The Holiday Stayers
by Sarin-sama
Summary: AU Levy McGarden is a senior at Magnolia Academy in the city of Fiore. She's left at the school for the Holiday's along with a few other students, one of which is the rebelious Gajeel. *Finally Completed*
1. Chapter 1

**So i came up with this random AU story centered around two of my favorite Fairy Tail Characters xD Hopefully no OOCness (except for Evergreen - i'm making her the bully, just because i needed someone lol - but tell me if there's obvious OOCness so i can work better at fixing it)**

**Anyways, hope you like it~**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

The halls that ran through the dorm rooms were all quiet. Levy smiled. The only time Magnolia Academy was quiet was during the holiday breaks when all the students went home to their families. Levy was one of the few students that had to stay at the school for the two weeks of break time.

Levy didn't mind the loneliness though. She had her books, and the school librarian had left her the key since, she too had gone home for Christmas.

Levy, with a book in her hands, walked down the girl's dorm hall, and towards the lobby that separated the girl's wing of the building from the boy's wing.

The lobby was circular, and filled with lots of couches, a few coffee tables and desks, as well as a pool table wedged into the corner. Levy smiled at the warmly lit room and settled herself down onto her favorite loveseat. She propped her thin legs up onto the cushion and leaned against the armrest.

The blue-haired bookworm opened up her most recent book and continued where she left off this morning.

It was a fantasy book – one of her guilty pleasures – and quickly her mind was lost in the hero's epic battle with an evil wizard who had kidnapped his beautiful fiancé and was attempting to use her in a human sacrifice to bring a terrible demon back from the Underworld. Levy was there beside the hero as he fought for his love, lashing out with his enchanted sword and –

"Helloooo – earth to Levy…" a wizened voice called to her in the midst of battle.

Her head snapped up, causing her red-rimmed glasses to slide down to the tip of her nose. She looked up to see a short old man shaking his head while smirking lightly. She coughed and straightened her glasses, "Oh, Headmaster Makarov! I didn't see you there."

The headmaster chuckled, "I should have known better than to interrupt you while you were lost in a book. But I came down here to see how you've been. I know the holidays are always hard for you."

She smiled at the man that had been her real father figure over the past four years. Though he was the headmaster at her school, the two had developed a father-daughter like relationship – especially around Christmas time.

"I'm fine, Master," she said softly using the nickname the students came up with, "I've got my books to keep me occupied."

Headmaster chuckled again and patted her shoulder, "Well, I'll leave you to your story, then. Merry Christmas, Levy."

"Merry Christmas," she returned as she retreated back into her book. But her mind couldn't get back into it. The Hero's epic battle was very enthralling, but her thoughts kept returning to Master Makarov. The reason they had been so close was due to her tense family situation. Her parents were, so say the least, unconcerned with their daughter. They were rich CEO types, who cared about money, social events, and status. Their homely daughter wasn't good for anything except wasting their money, embarrassing them in front of others, and lowering the high status they had worked so hard to build – so they sent her away for most of the year, only bringing her home for the summers where she was usually secluded in their home by the beach.

But for all the holiday's that she was left to spend alone on campus, Headmaster Makarov had been there to keep her company when none of her small group of friends had stayed. Tomorrow was Christmas, and per usual, they would spend it in the kitchen with any of the other students who were left at the school, attempting to make a nice dinner for them all.

Footsteps brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see another of the Holiday-Stayers – but this one was her least favorite of the small group.

Evergreen Raijinshu.

Her long brown hair flowed over her bare shoulders – despite the snow outside, she was wearing a bright green strapless dress. Evergreen was very full of herself, and didn't particularly like Levy. She constantly teased Levy for being a nerd, and often made fun of the bookworm's strange blue hair.

"Hey, Nerd, Whatcha reading?" Evergreen said in a mock sweet voice as she leaned over the back of Levy's favorite loveseat.

Levy sent a scowl towards the girl, "None of your business."

Evergreen slapped the book out of the blue-haired girl's hand, causing the book to tumble to the floor and close.

"Cut it out Evergreen – can't you be a little nice? It's Christmas Eve…" Levy sighed as she bent to pick up her book, hoping she remembered where she left off.

Evergreen let out an indelicate snort, "Shut up, Bookworm." Evergreen stalked off, stepping through the door that led to the boy's dormitories.

Levy held her book in her lap and sighed. "Now I'm not in the mood to read this…"

She stood up, clutching her book to her chest, and headed back to her dorm room. Usually she shared it with one of her best friends, Lucy, but would have it to herself until Lucy came back after New Year's eve.

She dropped her book on her bed and decided to take a walk through the snowy campus grounds. It was a nice campus, and she definitely wouldn't be bothered by Evergreen if she went outside for a while.

Levy smiled, took her glasses off and set them on her nightstand, and threw on a fluffy red winter jacket. A nice walk through the snow would be just what she needed.

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><p>A tall and slightly threatening boy with stud piercings in the oddest of places sat on a bench hidden in the small park on the Academy's grounds. Due to his fearsome appearance, you'd think he had snuck onto the property, but he was actually a student at the school. One of the Holiday-Stayers as well.<p>

Soft snowflakes were drifting lazily down from the gray skies which reflected the boy's mood.

He hated the holidays.

Hated all the forced cheer, and kindness. Hated all the people who expected the same sort of happiness from him.

The boy grumbled to himself and threw an empty beer can at a nearby tree. Obviously beer wasn't allowed on campus – but as his looks suggested, he was quite the rebel, and knew how to hide things if necessary.

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see a familiar blue-haired girl coming towards him. He knew the girl – Levy McGarden – but had never particularly spoken to her.

The girl noticed him sitting on the bench and stopped walking. She sent a small smile at the boy, "Oh, hi Gajeel. Didn't think anyone would be out here…" her eyes flickered to the cluster of beer cans at his feet and looked at him with nervous concern, "A-are…is everything okay?"

He glared at her but didn't answer. Great, his buzzed thoughts started to rant, here comes another cheery-do-gooder, going to ask me whats wrong and tell me to be happy. Another person to wish me a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holiday's" depending on if they were concerned about being offensive. Another fake person with fake cheer and fake concern.

"Just peachy," he growled as he took another sip of cheap beer.

To his surprise a nervous smile played at the corner of her lips, "Not a big fan of the holiday's either?"

He nodded gruffly and directed his gaze towards the snowy scenery before him. The park was littered with tall trees, small gardens which some of the students tended themselves, and many pathways and little outlets with benches, all blanketed in white powdery snow. It was a beautiful place, but it was lost on Gajeel, who was buzzed and too angry to notice.

Levy stood still for a few minutes, also looking at the scenery before them – but unlike the studded boy on the bench, she wasn't too intoxicated by alcohol and anger to see it.

Finally she moved and sat down beside Gajeel. She could see that they shared the loneliness that the holiday's brought, and somehow wanted to help him. She leaned against the back of the bench and looked up at the sky, letting the lazy snowflakes land on her face. She started to speak, not really sure what was making the words flow from her mouth, or why she wanted to share them with this boy she had never even spoken to before.

"I know this time of year is supposed to be one of happiness and giving – and that everyone loves this season – but I can't stand it. It's lonely, depressing, and much too forced. I'd rather we just skip to New Years and be done with all this Christmas stuff," Levy sighed, keeping her eyes up at the sky.

Gajeel stole a glance at her and then mimicked her position, letting his face turn up to the sky. He grunted in agreement and passed her an unopened beer, kept cold by the snow.

She took it without a word and popped the top open. The two of them sipped at their beers in silence, both comforted merely by the other's presence. The cold air bit at their extremities, but still they sat there on the bench for nearly an hour. Once their cans were emptied, and the sky had grown darker, Levy decided to go back inside.

Levy could feel that Gajeel's anger and loneliness had at least been abated, and she felt slightly pleased that she'd been able to help.

She stood up and gave the studded boy a small smile before turning back towards the lobby between the dormitories.

Gajeel watched her go, his fuzzy thoughts deciding that she was actually pretty decent – for a bookworm, that is.

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><p>Evergreen scowled at the blue-haired girl as she walked through the door into the lobby, "Where've <em>you<em> been, Bookworm? And what's with that stupid smirk on your face?"

Levy looked over to her fellow Holiday-Stayer, "Hmm? Just been watching the snow fall."

Evergreen rolled her eyes, "You're so boring, you know that?" She sauntered off to find one of the Holiday-Stayer guys – most likely her crony known by the nickname Bixlow.

Levy shrugged and peeled her fluffy jacket off of her body. Snow had fallen into the creases, so as she took it off, white powder accumulated on the floor. She shook the snow out of her strange blue locks and set off towards her room. After putting away her jacket and putting on her glasses, she figured she'd go see what Headmaster was trying to cook for dinner. It was always warm in the kitchen, and she'd be able to sample any goodies he was making.

She hung her jacket up on the hook in the closet, and quickly started off towards the kitchen.

Her thoughts wandered back to Gajeel, and she hoped idly that he'd try to sober up some before dinner tonight. She tried to think if she'd ever really spoken with him before, but could remember nothing but sharing a few classes together. They were both seniors, but he had always seemed so unapproachable and pretty much unfriendly. The only person he really hung out with was Lily – a tough guy who was usually pretty sociable, despite his unusually girly name.

Maybe his parents were hippies, she thought randomly and off-topic.

She came to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen, and pushed through them. Levy found Master Makarov scowling at a large pot of water on the stove top.

She quietly stepped up beside him, "What's the matter?"

He was slightly startled to see her, but answered quickly, "Stupid water won't boil. It's been sitting on the stove for thirty minutes now and it's still cold!"

Levy leaned over and immediately noted the problem, "The flame went out, Master. That's probably why it isn't heating up."

He turned his scowl to her, "Eh – smart-aleck." He turned off the burner and relit it. The flame burnt bright orange and started to lick at the sides of the pot. "Well – that solves that problem."

Levy rolled her eyes with a smile, "So have any more dilemmas that need solving?"

"That's all at the moment, but you could help me with desert! I'm attempting to make a few pumpkin pies. We only have twenty students here at the moment so four pies should be enough."

Levy helped Master prepare the pies, while simultaneously setting the large circular table set up in the mess hall for the twenty one people currently at the school. Master was the only member of the staff that didn't leave the school. Technically he was already home. He had his own little condo built on the back property.

In a way, the holiday's here at Magnolia Academy were pretty fun. Master gave the student's free reign over the holiday breaks, as long as they didn't break or seriously damage anything or anyone. The students were relatively left to their own devices – Master trusted the small group of Holiday-Stayers to not get into any trouble, considering he knew them all pretty well. There were a few in the group that he liked to keep an eye on, but besides the select few, he trusted them on their own.

Finally the sky outside had completely darkened, giving way to night even though it was really only five o'clock. Makarov, Levy, and another girl by the name of Mirajane who had come later to help out had dinner finished and ready to eat.

Master rang the school's bell that signaled the meal, and slowly, the other eighteen students trickled into the mess hall for dinner. Everyone found a seat, usually by their friends, and waited for Master to issue the Christmas Eve Challenge.

Every Christmas Eve, Master would give the students a fun and festive challenge for them all to participate in. Sometimes it was a game they'd play at dinner, while other times it was a scavenger hunt through the whole school that ended at midnight.

Everyone was chatting amongst themselves about what it could possibly be this year, but Levy just admired the warm atmosphere in the room. She noticed Gajeel slip into the room, his cheeks still red from the cold outside, and watched him sit down in an empty across the circular table from her.

He still looked a little buzzed, but he was keeping to himself so as not to draw any attention to himself. Gajeel scowled at nothing, keeping his eyes down.

Master came into the room, carrying a bright red Santa hat in his hands and a wide grin on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, here's chapter two - hope you like it**

**Oh and i hope no one minds that i gave Bixlow a fake first name haha just to give him something to be teased about xD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"All right students! You know the drill and I know you've been dying to find out this year's Christmas Challenge!"

A few of the more outgoing students cheered and Bixlow, the massive jock that he is shouted, "Come on! Get on with it Old Man!"

Master sent Bixlow a menacing smirk, "Alright then, _Eugene_."

Everyone laughed at the boy's real name, and Bixlow's face immediately reddened like a ripe tomato.

Master continued with his grin, "We'll be playing Ultimate Indoor Hockey! Three teams all pitted against each other! It will be a death-match! So everyone eat up, and head to the Lobby after you're done!"

The table was jolted into action and conversation. People – well, more the guys than girls – dove into the food that was set out on the table – lots of mashed potatoes, beef gravy, bread rolls, buttery green beans, and slightly overdone pork chops (it was amazing how much Makarov could get done in such little time). Most of the girls turned to their neighbors and started gabbing away about the Ultimate Hockey game afterwards, a few of them wondering if they'd be able to sit out the action.

Gajeel was actually looking forward to the game – it was a chance to blow off some steam and hit something. Sure it wouldn't be as fun as fighting with Lily like the two usually did to blow off anger and energy, but it was at least something.

The studded boy looked around the table at the mindless chatterboxes that were his schoolmates. There were a handful of seniors, a lot of freshman, and the odd sophomore and junior thrown into the mix. Though he probably knew the name of everyone at the table – excluding a few of the freshmen – he didn't actually _know_ any of them. He knew their reputations, and the rumors about everyone, but as with Levy, he had never talked to most of them…and didn't really care to.

He piled his plate high with food, snatching the last bread roll from the bowl before some freshman could get it. He ate quickly, like most of the other guys in the room, but kept to himself whereas other heavy eaters were also trying to converse with their friends and eat at the same time.

Once Gajeel's plate was emptied and his hunger was abated, he looked across the table at Levy.

It wasn't that he particularly wanted to look at her, but she was directly across from him, and there was nothing else to do. The blue-haired girl was reading a book while trying to take mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. Levy brought the fork to her mouth and attempted to take the bite without looking.

But unfortunately, she was too distracted and the fork ran into her cheek, right beside her mouth.

The girl beside her, Mirajane, broke out into laughter at Levy, whose face quickly reddened as she dropped both the book and the fork at the same time out of frantic nervousness. But misfortune was following the blue-haired girl tonight, as the book fell right onto her plate of food, causing her mashed potatoes to splatter all over her, Mirajane, and the rest of the immediate area. Now Levy's bad luck had the attention of the whole table, and everyone – even Headmaster Makarov – was laughing their asses off.

Gajeel snickered and watched as her cherry-red face just stared in shock at her plate, while slowly trying to wipe off the mashed potatoes that had sprayed her orange shirt. He felt bad for the girl – she had been a relatively good drinking buddy – but couldn't help adding his own strange laughter to the chorus of voices that echoed through the mess hall.

Mirajane was now biting down on her lip to subdue the laughter and helping Levy wipe away the mashed potatoes with a napkin.

Eventually, the laughter died down, but the redness to Levy's cheeks lasted the rest of the relatively short meal. She had been the first to excuse herself, and briskly walked off – probably to go change.

But Makarov stood from his chair, "Wait – hold on a minute Levy. I need to split everyone up into teams first!"

She stood in the doorway, a pleading look very apparent in her large eyes.

Makarov started with Levy, and went clockwise around the table, deeming everyone Red, Blue, or Yellow.

Once everyone had their color – Makarov added himself to the Yellow team to make it even numbers against each other – he told everyone to wear the color of their team to the Lobby and meet there in twenty minutes.

Everyone dispersed afterwards, Levy darting out of the room the quickest, followed closely by Mirajane.

Gajeel snatched another bread roll from the table and went to the dorm room he usually shared with Lily. As he had been placed into the red team, he found a dark red t-shirt in the back of the closet and put it on over his black sweatshirt. He quickly scarfed down the rest of the bread roll and took off towards the shared lobby.

Only a few of the younger students had arrived, so he leaned against the wall by the door that led to the boy's wing of the building to wait.

Makarov, who walked into the Lobby with an armload of hockey sticks and a mesh bag thrown over his shoulder, volun_told_ the early freshmen boys to help him move all of the furniture in the large circular lobby up against the walls, and soon set up three goals with bright orange cones that stood out against the cream-colored carpet of the room.

Students kept trickling in, staying in mismatching color groups, as they were reluctant to split up from their friends. Gajeel stayed by his spot on the wall, waiting for the rest of his color team to come to him.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Mirajane plopped herself down on Lucy's unoccupied bed, while Levy dug through her dresser for red and blue shirts for the both of them.

"I can't believe I don't own a blue shirt," Mirajane sighed as she observed one of Lucy's posters tacked to the wall above her bed.

Levy finally found the two shirts she was looking for, "That's alright – I've got an extra one. Too bad we're not on the same team though."

Mira shrugged, "Oh well – at least the game will get everyone's mind off of your diner fiasco." The white-blonde girl smirked at the color that returned to Levy's cheeks.

Levy grumbled and threw the blue shirt at Mirajane.

"Seriously, don't worry about it," Mira started, "No one will remember for very long – at it was only in front of a small group. It could have definitely been worse."

Levy sighed, "Yeah I know – but it's still embarrassing though. Evergreen's gonna hold it over me for at least the rest of the holiday break." Levy pulled off her mashed-potato stained orange t-shirt and pulled on the clean yellow one. She looked at herself in the mirror as she tied her blue hair up into a high pony tail.

Mira joined her at the mirror and giggled as she pulled her bangs into a pony tail at the top of her head. Levy flicked it, and the small pony tail flipped back and forth comically.

The two girls dissolved into laughter, and once Mirajane had thrown on the blue tank-top over her white blouse, they headed towards the Lobby. The groups had formed already, with most of the students split up. The red team, comprised of five freshmen, Gajeel, and a junior girl by the name of Cana, was lingering by the wall beside the door that led to the boy's dormitory, while the blue team made up of Evergreen, Bixlow, two freshman boys, and two sophomore girls, was congregated in the center of one of the goals.

Mira went to the blue team while Levy headed towards the group in yellow by one of the two fireplaces in the room. Levy's group was comprised of two freshman girls, a senior boy named Alzack, both of Mirajane's younger siblings Lisanna and Elfman, and Headmaster Makarov.

Master smirked at his group and stood proudly with his hands on his hips. "I can feel it! We're gonna beat the snot out of the other teams!"

The two freshman girls giggled while Elfman and Alzack high-fived each other. Levy exchanged a pleasant smile with Lisanna and waited for further instruction.

Master stood up on a coffee table that had been shoved up against the wall, and silently counted all of the students. Once he was satisfied that everyone was there, and no one was attempting to ditch, he clapped his hands and started yelling over all the chatter.

"OI! Listen up! It's seven on seven on seven – one goalie per team. You are only allowed to hit the bean-bag with the hockey sticks, so please refrain from beating each other senseless. Okay – team with the most points after an hour and a half gets a "Skip Coupon" which will get you out of any normal day of class!"

Everyone cheered at the mention of the prize, and mentally decided which class they'd use it on when the time came.

Makarov laughed at all the excitement and yelled out, "READY, SET, GO!"

All twenty students and Master Makarov scrambled to get onto the "field" with their hockey sticks, and frantically divvied up their team into positions. Lisanna was deemed the goalie of the Yellow team, while a sophomore girl and a freshman boy were placed as the goalies of the blue and red teams respectively.

Makarov was in the middle of the fight for the neon orange bean bag that was the game puck. Levy stayed on the outskirts instead of plunging into the thick of battle with her fellow Holiday-Stayers. Levy caught Mirajane's eye and they smirked competitively.

Bixlow got control of the bean bag and sent it flying towards the red team's goal – but the freshman goalie caught it with his hands and threw it back onto the field, where Gajeel immediately trapped it with his hockey stick and sent it soaring towards Lisanna.

Lisanna managed to block it with her stomach and threw it towards the center of the field, where another battle took place for control.

Within the first twenty minutes, the Red team had two points, while the yellow team and the blue team each had one.

Everyone was laughing and letting themselves enjoy the intense game – especially Makarov, who had really gotten into it, and ended up smacking people's shins to get at the bean bag.

As the game progressed, it got rougher and rougher – causing most of the freshman to keep to the sidelines while the older kids fought mercilessly.

About an hour into it, the yellow and red teams were tied with six shots each. Lisanna blocked another shot by Bixlow and threw it towards Levy, who was unblocked and close to the red team's goal.

Levy trapped the bean pack with her stick, but as she went to take her shot, she tripped.

As she began to fall towards the ground, she noticed Gajeel and Bixlow both rushing towards her with determined looks on their faces. They hadn't yet realized that she was falling, and had both readied their hockey sticks to swing.

In the split second it took Levy to fall, Gajeel and Bixlow had both swung for the bean bag, noticing too late that Levy's small body was now on the floor, in direct line of their hockey sticks. The two seniors tried to hold back the force of their swings, but it was no use.

Levy cried out in shocked pain as the two hockey sticks struck her small body – Bixlow's stick clipping the top of her head, and Gajeel's socking her in stomach.

The room immediately froze, and all eyes fixated themselves on to the scene by the red team's goal.

The two boys were shocked and both dropped their hockey sticks to the ground. Makarov and Mirajane were the first ones to reach Levy, who was groaning and clutching her head.

"Oh, my god!" Mirajane breathed frantically. She pulled away Levy's hands from her head and saw the blood starting to flow freely from a wound the hockey stick had inflicted.

Bixlow saw the wound with wide eyes, "It was an accident! She fell right into our swings!"

Makarov came up behind the two and placed a hand on their shoulders, "I know – it was an accident." He knelt at the small girl's side and rolled her gently onto her back, "Levy? Can you hear me?"

Levy groaned, tears leaking from her usually bright eyes. "Yes," She answered with a weak and shaky voice. She was in obvious pain – her whole body was shaking from her attempt to hold in her cries, and her eyes clenched tight as if that could hold back the tears that were forcing themselves out.

Makarov looked up to the two boys, "One of you take her to the infirmary – I've got to call in the nurse." Makarov stood up quickly and headed for the nearest phone, leaving the small crowd of students on their own.

Bixlow was still frozen on the spot, muttering about accidents, so Gajeel took the initiative to kneel by her side and lift her up from the cream colored carpet that was now sporting a few blood stains.

He felt her small frame shaking in his arms as he carried her off towards the infirmary, with Mirajane leading the way in a silent calm that was unnatural to her personality. She held doors open for the studded boy and the injured girl, who was now close to unconsciousness.

Once in the white stained room that acted as the infirmary, Mirajane readied one of the two beds, and pulled back the blankets while Gajeel laid her down as gently as his rough and callused hands could manage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, guys - here it is. I wrote through the night (well, till like midnight and then I went to bed lol) and finished it this morning. The third installment of The Holiday Stayers. I think it's just as good as the chapter that got accidentally deleted because of my rebellious computer, if not better.**

**Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me, nor do any of the characters, though i have sort of tweaked them to fit in with the whole high-school thing haha.**

~Enjoy!~

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><p>Chapter 3:<p>

Nurse Grandine looked over the girl with a frown on her face – not necessarily because what she saw displeased her, but because she didn't like being pulled into the school on Christmas Eve. She finished wrapping an ice-pack to the girl's bruised stomach, and gave one last look at the small head wound that she had taken care of first. A white bandage was cocooned around her head, keeping a sterilized cloth over the wound.

It really hadn't been too bad of a gash, so stitches were unnecessary. Nurse Grandine took the blue-haired girl's pulse, and then placed a hand on her upper back to feel her heart beat.

"She's fine. Just make her rest and take it easy for a few days." Grandine started putting away all the gauze and bandages that she'd taken out, and cleaned up her work space.

"That's good to hear," Headmaster Makarov said. He sighed in relief as he stood at the blue-haired girl's bed side. He patted her pale hand that rested atop the blankets she was nestled under.

Levy had remained in her unconscious state the entire night, her breaths quiet but constant.

"Will she wake up soon?" Mirajane asked nervously from the corner of the room. He was anxiously biting her thumbnail in wait of Grandine's answer.

"Eh – morning I guess. Just let her wake up on her own."

Mirajane nodded and held her arms to her chest, feeling odd in the presence of both Master and the nurse, who had more than once scolded her for faking a stomach ache to get out of class.

Nurse Grandine sighed in frustration, "Well, I'm going home. Try not to let the pests hurt themselves anymore, as I'd like to enjoy my short vacation away from their presence."

Makarov let out a small snort of laughter, "Don't worry, Poly – I'll only bother you if it's a matter of life or death."

"Tch," She hissed as she stalked out the door. She stepped harshly away and muttered a horribly un-cheery, "Merry Christmas" before rushing off the campus.

Master sighed and looked to the platinum blonde girl by the door, "You should get some rest, Mirajane. Levy will be okay here for the night."

"Are you sure? Because I don't mind spending the night here with her," Mirajane offered quickly.

Master shook his head and started towards the door. He opened it and gave Mirajane a slight push out the door before him, "Don't worry – Levy probably won't wake up until late morning. She won't notice if no one's there."

"So she's alright then?" Bixlow's edgy voice asked from a few feet away. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, having stopped his impatient pacing at the sight of Mirajane and Master coming out of the infirmary. His large arms crossed over his wide chest as he waited for a response.

Mira nodded, "Yeah – Mrs. Grandine said she'll be fine after some healing rest."

"Good – I tried to pull back the shot, but I couldn't stop it in time," Bixlow said slowly.

Makarov quickly patted the boy's arm, "Don't worry – Levy knows you didn't do it on purpose." Master looked between the two seniors and scratched the back of his head, "Well, unlike you youngsters, I'm about to fall asleep standing up. Happy Christmas eve." He smiled and waved at his students and took off in the other direction, towards one of the back doors of the school that would take him down to his condo on the back property.

Mirajane called a goodnight to him as Bixlow merely grunted nondescriptly. The two took off down the hallway towards the dorm lobby, walking in silence. Mira stole a glance up at the tall boy.

He was part of Evergreen's little club of "Power Players", as most of the school called them. Though she was glad that he seemed truly sorry for hurting Levy, she wondered why he felt nothing about Evergreen's constant bullying of the blue-haired girl.

Mirajane knew something had happened between the obnoxious Queen Bee and, her friend, the humble bookworm, and knew that for some reason Evergreen liked to lash out at Levy because of it and drag her posse into it if they were around, but Mira didn't know any of the details. She had on multiple occasions asked Levy to spill, but she wouldn't tell her anything. Levy would clam up, or avert the subject.

Usually, Mira felt that it was her duty to know all the gossip of the school and be the official information gatherer – she _was _the Senior editor of the school's newspaper _The Fairy Tales_, so named for some reason unbeknownst to any recent and living generations (Mira didn't think that even Master knew why their mascot was Fairies, only that it had been for over eighty years) – but no one seemed to know the history between the two girls.

"What are you looking at?" Bixlow asked awkwardly as he realized Mirajane had been staring at him.

Mira shrugged and lied flawlessly, "I thought you had a bug on you – but I guess it flew away."

A small shiver rippled down his spine, and Mirajane fought an outburst of laughter as he waved his hands around his head to ward off any other "bugs" that might have landed on him.

Finally the two stepped out into the lobby, which was still a mess of pushed aside furniture and groups of students, all talking quietly amongst themselves. Bixlow immediately split up to find Evergreen and Mirajane was flocked in seconds by Cana, Lisanna, and Sherry – the last of which was one of Lisanna's sophomore classmates.

"Is she okay?" Lisanna asked quickly.

"She really took a hard hit," Cana stated, analyzing Mira's face and deeming Levy's health by the look of slight relief.

Mirajane nodded, "Levy will be fine – but Mrs. Grandine said she'll have to rest for a day or two."

Sherry let out a sad whine, "Aww – that means she'll probably won't be able to do much tomorrow. She's gonna miss the Christmas party!"

Cana shook her head, "That won't be too much of a problem for her – Levy's not a real holiday person. Especially around Christmas time."

"Really?" Sherry asked with eyes wide with confusion, "How can someone not like Christmas?"

"She doesn't talk about it much. I think it has something to do with family issues, but I'm not really sure. I try not to pry," exchanged a glance with Cana, who raised an eyebrow at the blonde haired girl.

"Yeah right – that's about all you do," Cana joked and nudged her in the ribs. "You're not happy with yourself if you're not prying into someone else's life."

Mira smiled devilishly, "It's a job someone has to do – who else will be the knowledgeable source of all Magnolia gossip?"

The girls broke out into laughter that mixed with the other sounds of voices that buzzed in the lobby. Everyone was getting tired and after a few more minutes of teasing Mira about her gossiping talents and vocalizing hopes for Levy's quick recovery, Lisanna turned to Sherry, "Let's go find Angel – we can have a mini-sleepover in our room with the three of us."

Lisanna bid goodnight to her sister and Cana and took off with Sherry.

Cana looked to Mira, "I'd rather have the room to myself - bunking with Juvia is cool sometimes considering she's a senior and I'm only a junior, but she gets really chatty at night. It'll be cool to have the room be silent for once."

Mira laughed, "Yeah, it's nice having the place kinda empty – especially because my roommate is Ultear. She's usually nice and keeps pretty much to herself, but loves to criticize my organization skills."

"What organization skills?" Cana teased.

Mirajane rolled her eyes at the brunette and stifled a yawn, "Well, I'm off to bed. I'll see you in the morning – I'm recruiting you to help set up the Christmas Party with me."

Cana groaned, "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part. See you tomorrow."

The girls separated once in the girl's wing of the dormitories, heading down adjacent hallways to their respective rooms. As Mira passed by Levy's vacant dorm, she spoke to herself, "I'll wake up early to bring her some stuff. I'm sure she'll need a few dozen books to read while she's trapped in the infirmary."

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Through the painful throbbing of her head, the sound of which seemed to fill the bookworm's mind like an annoying song that wouldn't evaporate from her thoughts, Levy could also hear the faint and familiar sound of pages turning.

Just by that comforting sound of sliding pages, she could tell that Mirajane was flipping restlessly through one of her magazines somewhere nearby.

Levy let out a groan of pain as she tried to push herself up into a sitting position.

"Levy!" Mirajane gasped as she stood from the seat beside Levy's hospital bed, letting the magazine on her lap fall to the floor with a flap, "You're awake!"

Levy gave her friend a small smile despite the pain that tried to stop her, "I just woke up."

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Mira asked rapidly, hovering over Levy as she managed to sit up and lean against the headboard of the white bed.

A wave of dizziness washed over Levy, spinning her head like a top. Her mind wobbled and the feeling of movement made Levy's stomach feel sick. "Ugh," she groaned, "Dizzy. Is there any water?" She clamped her eyes shut, hoping to cut off the dizziness, but that only managed to make it worse.

Mirajane hurried to the infirmary's sink and filled up a paper cup with tap water. She hurried over to her injured friend and brought the cup to her lips.

Levy drank greedily and let out a satisfied sigh once the cup was dry. "Do you need any more?" Mira asked.

Levy shook her head – which didn't help with the dizziness problem – and said, "No, I'm good now. Probably just dehydrated or something."

"Do you…do you remember what happened?"

Levy's cheeks reddened, "Unfortunately…I swear, clumsiness is a deadly disease. Hopefully it's not contagious."

Mira laughed and sat down on the hospital bed beside Levy's blanketed feet, "If it was, I'd have caught it by now – and look at me! I'm the most graceful person you know."

"Unless you start to dance," Levy laughed.

Mira blushed with embarrassment, "Hey! I'm normally a great dancer…you just happened to see me on one of my off nights."

"You don't do well when intoxicated," the blue-haired girl snickered.

"Oh, like you do any better," Mira spat back playfully.

Levy smiled, her thoughts stopping on her little drink-break with Gajeel, "I'll have you know, I'm excellent at holding my liquor. I just don't like to drink too often – it's more like a once-ina-while thing."

"Well, apparently, my family is notorious for being bad with alcohol. My mother can't touch the stuff or else she gets all loopy – even after only half a glass of wine."

Levy laughed, "Wow, that's bad. Good tolerance probably runs in my family."

"Oh," Mira exclaimed as a thought came to her, "Speaking of beer, I was thinking of trying to sneak some onto the campus for the Christmas Party – just a little to spike the punch with."

"Try not to let the freshman have it though – they're already crazy enough without an alcohol buzz."

Mira sighed and looked up at the clock, "Well, I'm glad you're awake. I gotta go and induce Cana into helping me set up the party for tonight. Hopefully you'll feel good enough to come tonight! It'll be fun, despite your anti-Christmas spirit." Mira jumped from the bed and grabbed her magazine off the ground, "Oh, and I brought you a few books to read. I figured you'd be pretty bored in here."

Levy smiled and said her thanks as she watched her friend's white-blonde head disappear out the infirmary door, leaving her alone with her aches and pains. She sighed and rested her head against the backboard as well.

It was throbbing even more after all her laughter, and the dizziness hadn't quite gone away. Her stomach was giving her the most trouble though. It restricted all of her movements, shouting out in anger every time she tried to lead towards the small table beside her bed to grab a book.

She scowled down at her stomach and removed the bandages that had been wrapped tightly around her the night previous. She let the now-lukewarm icepack fall from her bruised stomach. Blue and sickly purple seemed to have spread across the pale skin of her stomach like a flesh-eating disease.

Levy groaned at the sight and gingerly fingered it. It was roughly in the shape of the hockey stick that had socked her, and hurt to even look at, let alone touch.

Her fingers flinched away from the bruise that had taken over her stomach and she glanced longingly at the stack of four books that were piled on the bedside table. She wished that she could magically get them to float to her, but realized that all the staring in the world would do nothing to help the situation.

The blue-haired girl finally gave in and took a deep breath. She reached forward, moving her torso as little as possible, until her fingers touched the comforting surface of the top-most book. She grabbed it and quickly pulled it into her lap as she settled back into her upright position that was relatively painless for her torso.

She frowned at the book as she flipped through it. It was barely three hundred pages.

"This won't last me very long," She sighed. Levy thought about putting it back and getting another book, but her stomach pained just thinking about moving. She gave in and started her book.

"_The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."_

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Master had brought her a large lunch, knowing that Levy hadn't eaten anything for breakfast, but found her so involved in a book, that the girl barely noticed him come in and set the tray down. He didn't want to interrupt her reading, so just took joy in the fact that she was feeling good enough to be her normal book-loving self.

He smiled as he left the room, and didn't come back until around dinner time.

"Levy?" he asked as he knocked on the infirmary door.

To his surprise, the girl answered, "Come in!"

Master pushed open the door with his elbow and brought his injured student dinner, "Hey – I brought you some food before the others inhaled it all."

Levy smiled lightly, trying to hide a grimace of pain, "Thanks, Master. I saw that you brought me lunch too – but I don't remember you coming in at all."

Makarov chuckled, "You were too sunken into your book to hear me. But it's fine – I'm just glad you haven't suffered enough damage to prevent you from reading."

"That would be horrible," Levy shuttered.

As master observed her, she seemed to be in quite amount of pain. Levy kept rubbing her forehead or grimacing as she tried to re-situate herself on the hospital bed. She tried to hide her pains, but Master could see through it.

He placed the tray of food on her lap – a few slices of ham, green bean casserole, salad with a little ranch dressing on top of it, and a fizzy drink that was probably 7up or the like.

Levy smiled her thanks to Makarov and started to eat. Between bites she asked, "So, what have I missed today?"

Master shrugged and sat down in the chair beside her bed, "Eh, not much. A bunch of ruckus, Mirajane's frantic decorating, Alzack and Elfman's snowball war, a few of the freshman playing pranks on each other – I swear, that Romeo hooligan is going to be as bad as Natsu someday."

Levy laughed, thinking of her pink haired friend. Natsu was usually another of the Holiday-Stayers, but this year Lucy invited him, Erza, and Gray to stay with her for the winter break. Lucy wanted to invite Levy and Mirajane as well, but Mira said it would be weird having Christmas without her siblings, and Levy said she'd feel like a fifth wheel. The four were all really good friends, and while Levy was best friends with Lucy and Natsu, and got along well with Gray and Erza, she would have felt awkward being with such a tight-knit group for the whole two week break.

"It's sad to say, but I'm actually glad that I get to miss the Christmas party," Levy started, her thoughts wandering back to her current conversation, "I'm sure it'll be fun, but I just want Christmas to be over already."

Makarov smile sadly at the girl, "I know, Levy. But this is your last year. Try to make the most of it. Once you leave, you'll find that you miss the place quite a bit."

Levy smiled and nodded, "I know – I don't know what you'll do without me next Christmas."

Master patted Levy's leg, "It won't be the same, that's for sure. I'll have to pick all new favorites – all my seniors are graduating."

Levy didn't know what else to say, so she just smiled as comfortingly as possible.

XVXVXVXVXVXVX

Gajeel watched as the party in the lobby danced around him. He really didn't want to be here, but found that sulking in his room was too depressing. The studded boy leaned against the wall and scowled at his fellow Holiday-Stayers while they danced and laughed and drank the Kool-Aid that was spiked with some of his smuggled rum. Music blasted from a large stereo that Mira had cajoled Alzack into bringing in all the way from the music room. Some atrocious hip-hop song was currently the spark that drove the teenagers to dance like idiots with their friends.

Evergreen was the worst of which, dancing almost stripper-like around Elfman, who looked uncomfortable but happy at the same time.

Gajeel sneered at the dancing retards and observed the shoddy decorations that Mira and Cana had spent so much effort putting up. Streamers of red and green twisted around the room and hung down from the ceiling in some places – giving the freshmen the idea to try to grab them and see who could pull one down first – Christmas lights were pinned up in all of the windows, more streamers hung down from doorways, and in the center of the room was a mistletoe.

Mira was eyeing the empty gap in the room with a small frown on her face, obviously hoping to catch an unsuspecting couple off guard.

Gajeel shook his head and decided he'd go wander around campus until this crappy party was over. As the studded boy neared the door that would take him outside, he passed by Mira and the headmaster talking.

Master, who had probably come to say goodnight to his students before holing up in his condo on the back property for the night, said, "Sorry, Mira, I don't think she's feeling well enough to come out from the infirmary. Her head and stomach were killing her, though of course the stubborn girl would never admit it."

Mira sighed and let her head hang down a little, "Darn – she'll miss out on the fun. Well, I'll figure something out. She's not getting out of my party so easily."

Gajeel stopped at the door.

That's right, he thought, he wasn't the only one who had a problem with the holidays.

He stood still for a moment before spinning around and heading towards the boy's dormitories. He figured he could avoid the party with someone who shared his dislike of the holidays – and give her a little something to make up for the whole "I hit you with a hockey stick and put you in the infirmary thing".

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><p><strong>Virtual strawberry short cake for anyone who knows what book or author I quoted for Levy's book xD<strong>

**Alright, so to make up for how crappy I've been about updating (i have lots of excuses - like i was working on my original novel, or college is a beast - but i still hate leaving you guys with nothing to read). So i will work viciously to get the 4th chapter out by Tuesday at least. Hopefully sooner, but we'll see.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, it's finished! And before Monday too haha. Well no one got my referance, but I'll give **pikinanouart** strawberry short cake for the guess lol It was a quote from Stephan King's the Dark Tower Series xD **

**Anywho, thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you like the next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong>

Gajeel stood at the doorway to the infirmary for a few seconds before pushing into the room. He stood there at the entrance, but found that Levy was too concerned with her book to notice his presence. He shook his head and made overly dramatic movements to catch her attention as he leaned against the door frame.

Finally her eyes flickered up to him in surprise, and her hands lowered the book that had previously been positioned to hover a few inches away from her face. "Sheesh – do you ever stop reading?" Gajeel's deep voice mocked as he took a step further into the room, letting the infirmary door close behind him.

"Oh – hi Gajeel," Levy said quickly, quite surprised that the studded boy was visiting her – especially since their only two encounters had occurred yesterday: one friendly and mildly pleasant, while the other quite painful. "You aren't at the party?"

Gajeel leaned against the wall by the door, his muscular arms crossed over his chest, a four-pack of beer hanging from one of his hands. "Tch – the party sucks. Figured I'd bring some medicine for your injuries," he said with a rough smirk, holding up the four-pack for emphasis.

Levy smiled softly, "Thanks."

Gajeel thought for a moment about straight out saying sorry for hitting her – but couldn't get the words to form in his mouth. He was a tough-guy, dammit! He didn't say sorry. He pulled the chair beside her bed and pushed it against the wall by the door.

His husky figure plopped down, and tore a can out of the plastic. He tossed it over to Levy, who had set her book down for the time being so that she could catch it.

He pulled out a beer for himself and quickly popped it open. They both drank – though Levy took smaller sips, compared to Gajeel's inhaling gulps.

Gajeel let out a loud breath as he pulled the can from his mouth. He looked at Levy, who was inspecting the label on the beer can for something to look at, and realized how strange it was for the girl to be completely alone like this.

"So where are your two lost puppies?" he asked bluntly.

She looked at him in confusion until she realized who he was talking about, "What – Jet and Droy? They're not lost puppies…"

Gajeel shrugged and sipped at his beer.

Levy sighed and answered his question, "At home. They both offered to stay, but I told them that their families would miss them over the holidays."

"I don't think I've ever seen you without those two or Bunny-girl by your side," Gajeel commented.

Levy let out a small laugh, recognizing Lucy's nickname that made almost no sense, "Why are you comparing all of my friends to animals?"

Gajeel shrugged again, "Just turned out that way. You're more like a kitten though."

"What?"

"Yeah. Small and seemingly defenseless…but even kitten's have claws. I bet you'd be good in a fight."

Levy let out a laugh of disbelief, "I don't fight. And I hardly think, that out of all the animals in the world I'm something as boring as a kitten."

He smirked, "Too bad. You can't choose your own – or else everyone would be the cool animals."

"Well, fine," Levy observed him with analytical eyes, "You're like a black bear."

"Tch – I always thought I was more of a dragon, but bear is still cool."

"Hmm, no you're definitely a bear – and dragons are mythological. They aren't on the list to choose from."

"How do you know that they're mythological though? They might have existed once."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she let out a laugh, "If I let you be a dragon, will you change me to something besides a kitten?"

"You can change me to a dragon if you want – but you'll still be a kitten." He smirked devilishly and sipped at his beer.

She sighed and was about to counter his statement, explaining exactly why she wasn't a kitten, when the door pushed open.

Gajeel had the sense to hide his beer, just in case it was the headmaster coming to check up on Levy, but his caution wasn't needed.

"Oh," Gajeel said as he pulled his beer back up from his side where he'd been shielding it from sight of the door, "Bixlow." He gave a gruff nod of recognition and went back to sipping on his beer.

Bixlow stood in the doorway, seemingly caught off guard that Gajeel was there. Bixlow gave a nod in response and looked over to Levy.

"Hey Bixlow," she said in a small voice, clutching her beer can in her hands with a tight grip.

The large jock gave what seemed to be a forced smile, "Hey. Heard you were awake and thought I'd say sorry for…you know." Bixlow tapped his head in indication of her bandaged one.

One of Levy's pale hands went to her head and fingered the edges of the white bandages that wrapped around the top of her skull, "Oh, it's okay. I know it wasn't on purpose or anything…just really bad timing."

"Yeah, so…" Bixlow paused awkwardly, "Later then." He spun around and left the room quickly.

As the door swung slowly closed on its own, another voice could be heard out in the hall. "Psh, she deserved it anyway. It's her own fault for being so damn clumsy," a slightly tipsy sounding Evergreen spat viciously.

"Shut up, Ever," Bixlow hushed pointedly.

They two started to walk away, but the rest of the conversation could still be heard through the closing door, "Don't be such a killjoy, Bixlow. I can't wait for Laxus to come back – HE wouldn't ruin my fun."

If the jock said anything in response it was cut off by the closing of the door.

Gajeel stared at Levy with narrow eyes. While social skills was not on the list of Gajeel's character traits, the studded boy could read people and their emotions like Levy could read a book – and Gajeel swore that he saw Levy cringe at the mention of Laxus' name. He watched her for a moment as she gripped her beer can with tight hands.

"Don't listen to them – they're assholes," the boy said bluntly, bringing his can of beer to rest on his knee as he leaned forward in his seat. He fought his curiosity and the urge to ask why the mere mention of Laxus' name had made her cringe.

She looked over at Gajeel and sent him a thankful smile, but her eyes still visibly screamed of sadness and fear.

Was she afraid of Laxus? Gajeel wondered to himself.

"Sorry about that…" Levy said quietly. She looked down at her hands.

"What's her deal with you, anyway? She's a bitch to everyone, but always takes it a step further with you," Gajeel asked. If he didn't ask about Laxus, he was at least going to ask about Evergreen.

"She doesn't like me," the blue-haired girl said shakily. She raised her can to her lips and took a few long gulps.

Gajeel scowled at nothing in particular, realizing she wasn't going to give a real answer. "They're assholes," he repeated and followed her example by downing the rest of his drink.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

"And he just let her dance around him like that?" Cana asked with a raised eyebrow as she and Mira had stumbled off to find a new CD in Cana's room.

"I know! Seriously, I know he's a guy and it's hard for them to function around pretty girls, but really? Evergreen? What was my brother thinking?" Mira ranted as she walked down the corridor that held Cana and Juvia's dorm room.

Cana let out a short burst of laughter, "I wonder if they have a secret thing going on that no one knows about."

Mira sent a scathing look at her brunette friend, "Don't even kid about that. Sure, it would be a really fun rumor to start, but everyone knows how hung up on Laxus she is. Elfman and Ever just wouldn't be believable."

"True," Cana agreed, "Evergreen's completely attached to Laxus. Are they actually going out, or are they just friends who like to make out in public?"

"Ugh, I don't know." Mira pushed open Cana's door and stepped inside. Both girls winced as Cana flipped the light switch on. Mirajane continued, "I think it's sort of an open relationship thingy. It's so weird – and completely damaging for Ever, though she's such a bully that no one really cares."

Cana nodded as she pulled Juvia's CD case out from under her bed. As she flipped through it for a new CD to play she said, "The stories about those two that get around are really bizarre. A few even say that Fried and Laxus have a thing on the side."

"NO! Don't say that! Fried is NOT gay!" Mira groaned as she plopped down on Cana's bed.

Cana snickered, "Oh yeah – I forgot about your little crush on Fried."

"It's not a crush – I just think he's completely sexy. You've seen him with his shirt off! He's built like a brick house!" Mira sighed happily as she imagined Fried pulling off his soccer jersey after one of their big games.

"He's got long hair though…it's kinda weird."

Mira scowled at her, "His hair is gorgeous – only REAL men can pull off having long hair."

The two girls dissolved into giggles and Cana said between calming breaths, "Yeah I don't think he's gay either – and Laxus definitely isn't. He's hit on every girl in the school…including you."

Mira shrugged, "He's too cocky for me…and not in a good way."

Cana burst into laughter and sent a smack at Mira's leg that dangled from the bed, "Bad girl!"

"Couldn't help myself," Mirajane giggled. He held her aching stomach and tried to take deep breaths. She sighed, "I think Bixlow said that Laxus and Fried are coming back in a day or so. We'll have front row seats for Ever's drama performances."

Cana sent a smirk towards Mira, "I bet you could still get some mileage out of that mistletoe before New Years."

Mira smiled fiendishly, "Oooo, now that's an idea. I love playing match-maker. Do you have any preferences?"

"Me?" Cana asked. She tapped her chin in thought, "Surprise me…as long as it's not a freshman or your brother."

"Hmm…it's a tie between Bixlow and Alzack," Mira pushed herself off the bed, "And I've already called Fried." Mira smirked.

"Sounds good…though I'd feel bad for kissing Alzack – it's completely obvious that he's in love with Bisca. I wish the two of them would hurry up and make out already."

"Seriously," Mira agreed, "They're pretty much a couple already…just without any of the fun parts. Maybe if she comes back early, my mistletoe will be able to help the situation."

The tipsy girls broke out into laughter again. Mirajane helped Cana to her feet, who had long ago picked out a new CD. "Good thing Juvia likes to make mix-CD's. She's got at least 10 dedicated to dance music."

The two girls linked arms and wandered back out towards the party, plotting mistletoe mischief and making a list of people they'd catch with their match-making schemes.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

After a full night of dancing and partying – all of the little freshmen (who Mira had not allowed to drink any of the "special" punch) had drifted off to their dorms for a night of sleep, leaving the upperclassmen to have the lobby for themselves.

Mira saw her little sister Lisanna and her two classmates, Angel and Sherry, struggling to stay awake and act cool in front of the older Seniors and Juniors. The platinum blonde match maker, at the moment was not-so-subtly hinting to Alzack that he needed to make a move with Bisca.

At the mention of the girl who was currently home for the holidays, Alzack's cheeks reddened to a dark shade of scarlet that stood out on his tanned skin.

The group was talking loudly and drunkenly – the only few who'd retained their sobriety was Cana (who had had the same amount as everyone else, but had a high tolerance level), and Elfman, who knew how bad he was with alcohol and had refrained from drinking more than a few cups of spiked punch.

Ever had plopped herself down in Elfman's lap, for reasons unknown to anyone, earning her strange glances from Mira and an awkward look from Elfman himself, who seemed completely unsure about what to do with his hands.

Bixlow was nursing another cup of punch and laughing loudly at something Angel said, who had settled down beside him. She was smiling proudly, happy that she'd been able to catch the jock's attention and make him laugh – even though the drink in his hand was probably more to blame than her story.

Cana noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Gajeel walking quickly through the room. He had just come from the door that led to the main building and was rushing to the guy's dormitory.

"Where've you been, Gajeel?" Cana asked loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else towards the boy with studs pierced in his face that reflected the dim lights of the lobby.

He shrugged, "Nowhere." He ignored his fellow classmates and disappeared into the boy's dorm hall.

"Oh," Bixlow said with a thick voice, "I know where he was…I saw him with Levy."

Mira's head shot up, "With Levy?"

Bixlow nodded and went back to his drink.

Immediately Cana and Mirajane pulled their heads together. "This is a new development," Mira smirked wickedly.

Cana shook her head, "I don't know – he might have just felt bad for hurting her."

Mira pursed her lips, "Hmm, well it could be. I'll have to interrogate the two of them – but I can see Levy going for the mysterious bad boy. We might have to add them to our list."

Cana shook her head at the devilish smile that rose to Mirajane's lips.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Levy smiled in the darkness of the infirmary. It had gotten late, but Gajeel only just left, turning off the lights for her as he did so.

In his own little way, the beer and company had been his way of apologizing for socking her in the stomach – and he was right. The beer had helped some to numb the pain, though it might actually add to the headache in the morning.

She sighed and eased herself beneath the covers so that she could get some sleep.

Levy wished she could just drift to sleep with the funny conversations she and Gajeel had shared fresh on her mind, but of course, Laxus once again found his way in.

She pulled her knees to her chest as she lay on her side beneath the blankets. Just his thought made her whole body go cold, despite the combined warmth of the alcohol and the fuzzy blankets.

Two years had passed and still she was tormented by it. Evergreen, who'd unintentionally saved her, had read the scene wrong, and even now hates her because of it. Levy had tried to tell someone what happened, and knew that keeping it to herself was the worst possible thing – but every time she'd open her mouth to relieve herself of the memory that haunted her dreams, his face would make her stop.

His face as it had been two years ago – angry, terrifying, and smiling like a devil – would freeze her tongue and keep her from letting it out.

Even tonight, she'd been so close to telling Gajeel – even though she hardly knew him, she wanted to answer his question. Levy wanted so badly to tell him and get the terrible secret off of her mind – even if that meant spilling her soul to a boy she'd just started to get to know.

But that chilling, smiling face stopped her once again.

Levy's eyes closed, and her mind drifted into nightmares.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys - i'm sorry for the wait, this story is kinda on the back burner of my mind because i'm working on two other stories at the moment, but i figured i was long over due with an update for you all. I'm really really surprised that so many people are liking this and not super angry at me for never updating lol**

**Anywho, i won't keep you waiting any longer ~ Enjoy ~!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

"Morning, Sunshine," Mira's happy voice chirped as she pulled away the blankets that cocooned Levy.

The blue-haired girl let out a groan and buried her face deeper into her pillow. Levy mumbled something incoherent into the cushion.

Mira didn't quite understand what she'd said but replied anyway, "Get up, Levy – you've already missed breakfast."

Levy lifted her head just a little and muttered, "I'm not hungry. Let me sleep."

"Nope," Mirajane answered happily, "I'm not going to let you keep yourself holed up in the infirmary for the rest of the break. This is our holiday vacation and we're going to have fun whether you want to or not."

"But I'm injured," Levy rolled onto her side and curled up to keep herself warm in the absence of the blankets.

Mirajane smirked, "You actually seem more hung-over to me…"

Levy once again mumbled something incoherent and buried her face back into her pillow.

Mira tugged on one of Levy's arms and pulled her into an upright position. Levy seemed too tired to protest, and let her friend move her about like a ragdoll.

Eventually, Mira had Levy slumped against one of her shoulders and started to drag her towards the door. "Come on, at least use your feet," Mira complained.

"Fine," Levy yawned. Still leaning against Mirajane she walked at a sluggish pace.

It took about ten minutes, but the two girls finally made it through the hall of the main building, across the student lobby, and into the girl's dormitory wing. Once they were inside Levy's room, Mira let the blue-haired girl fall onto her own bed.

"There," Mira sighed happily, "Now get dressed and we'll go find you something to eat."

Levy, who was a little bit more alert now, just sent Mira a pleading look, "I'm not hungry – can't I just go back to bed?"

Mira shook her head, "Nope – you ditched out on my awesome party last night, so now you owe me…although…" Mira smirked devilishly.

Levy knew that look and immediately started fearing for her life…that was Mira's "I know something juicy" face. And as anyone who is acquainted with the platinum blonde knows, that face is the precursor for trouble.

All kinds of trouble.

"Although?" Levy asked cautiously.

Mira gave a small laugh, "I heard you had some company last night."

Levy's face paled a little.

Sure, her night with Gajeel had been harmless – they hung out, drank a little, had some pointless conversations – but in the eyes of Mirajane, who was obsessed with playing matchmaker, this would be a huge ordeal.

"Maybe," Levy answered without meeting Mira's determined gaze.

Mira laughed again, "So what did you and Gajeel get up to? Anything exciting?"

"We just hung out…he brought a couple beers and we just – "

"You drank with him?" Mira interrupted. A large grin was spreading across her face, "Miss "I only drink once-ina-while?"

"It was his way of apologizing," Levy defended, "And it's not like we got drunk or anything."

But Mira wasn't paying attention. "It's kind of romantic, in its own way. The misunderstood bad boy bringing a peace-offering to the injured damsel in distress."

"Mira," Levy groaned, "Why does everything involving boys have to be romantic?"

"Because," Mira said in a matter-of-fact tone, "That's the way it is."

Levy shook her head, "But it wasn't like that…"

"So you say," Mira smirked fiendishly, "Cana and I will have to do some plotting…I think my idea is going to work out perfectly."

Levy's eyes widened in fear, "Idea? Please, Mira, no more matchmaker plots! Do you remember what happened last time?"

"Tch," Mira rolled her eyes, "The only reason Gray and Juvia didn't work out was because he kept bringing up other girls in conversation. Seriously, you don't talk about other girls when you're on a date!"

"No," Levy sighed, "It didn't work because you lied to Gray about it just being a study group, while telling Juvia that it was a double date! Juvia ended up crying when it was all over – especially when she found out that Gray didn't even know that it was a date."

"So one of my plans didn't pan out – there are plenty of other examples…"

Levy let her aching head fall into her hands. She knew it was useless to argue with the blonde, but she couldn't help but try – especially now that it could be her in the blonde's cross-hairs. She and Gajeel were oddly enough, getting along, and she didn't want Mira to ruin that small acquaintanceship by meddling and connecting dots when they shouldn't be.

"Anyways," Mira changed the subject, "To pay me back for not attending my fun Christmas party, you will participate in tonight's activity."

"Activity?"

Mira nodded enthusiastically, "It's a surprise so I can't give you any details, but it will be fun!"

Levy could only give in – if she refused to participate, Mira would become relentless.

"Fine – now let me go back to sleep. The hangover's starting to fade and all the other pains are starting to come back." Levy lay down on her bed and snuggled into her blankets, careful not to more her torso too much, as it still hurt to move it.

"Okay – I'll wake you up for lunch. If you keep babying your injuries, it'll only take longer for the pain to fade." Mira quickly checked her hair in Levy's long mirror, and headed for the door, "Sweet dreams."

Levy waved to her friend as she disappeared out the doorway, and quickly drifted back to sleep despite the pain that was starting to reappear in her stomach and temple.

* * *

><p>As promised, Mirajane came and dragged Levy out to lunch at noon, where she was met by repeated questions of "How are you feeling?" and "Are you okay?"<p>

Levy just lied and told everyone she was fine – that it barely hurt anymore. It was better than saying she still ached like she'd been steamrollered and flinched every time her elbow or arm bumped into her stomach where the nasty hockey-stick shaped bruise was. Everyone seemed to take her for her word and let her lie about it.

Lunch was Do-It-Yourself PP&J sandwiches because Master was too lazy.

"You all are old enough to know how to make a damned sandwich," he teased happily as he unscrewed the lid to the large tub of peanut butter and went to find spreading knives in the kitchen.

Everyone either made one or two sandwiches, depending on how hungry they were, except for the guys. Like everything boys they did, it somehow became a competition to see how many layers they could make their sandwich and still be able to eat it all.

Elfman started it all by making a quadruple-decker PB&J –four pieces of white bread slathered with peanut butter and strawberry jelly. Romeo, the freshman, decided he wasn't going to be beaten by a junior, so he made a sandwich with seven pieces of bread.

It started to get out of hand once Bixlow joined the competition and made a sandwich with a whole loaf of bread (including the crusts which everyone else had looked over). Everyone sat around the table laughing at guys with the over-kill sandwiches and wondering if they'd actually eat them.

Master suddenly stood up from his seat and slammed his hands down on the table. For a moment, the guys thought they were going to get in trouble for wasting so much food, but this was Master Makarov they were talking about…

"Bixlow! I will give you twenty bucks if you finish that whole thing!" Master shouted, pointing his finger to indicate the challenge.

Bixlow grinned, "I'll do it for thirty."

"Bah – that's extortion…fine! Thirty bucks if you can eat that whole thing – crusts and all!"

"Deal, old man! You better get out your wallet!" Bixlow mocked as he started observing the monstrosity that was stacked crookedly before him, looking for the right place to start eating.

Once Bixlow started, he kept at it. It was quite gross to watch as the girls soon found out. Peanut butter and three different kinds of jelly were smeared all over his face and stuck to his hands as he attempted to hold the steadily shrinking sandwich creation.

But he started to slow down once he got half-way through. It was proving to be more difficult than he thought to eat a whole loaf of white bread with hordes of peanut butter and jelly slathered onto it.

Elfman and Alzack cheered him on, which sparked the shouts of the underclassmen as well. Most of the girls had left to find something less disgusting to do with their time, except for Mira, Cana and Levy, the last of which had been in no rush to get up from her seat (which would earn her more pulling pains in her torso).

Cana was cheering along with the rest of the guys, while Mira just smiled fiendishly and started taking pictures with her small camera which she seemed to keep in her pocket for such emergencies as these.

"This is definitely going in the January article," Mira said happily to herself.

"He better win that money – he's gonna get a lot of crap for this if he doesn't," Cana added.

"Ugh, as long as he doesn't barf it back up while I'm still in the room, I'm good." Levy shifted in her seat and shook her head as Bixlow finally made it to the two-thirds mark. He only had a small fraction of sandwich left that was comprised of about seven slices of bread.

"Are you starting to feel sick?" Master taunted, "Don't barf, Bixlow, don't barf."

The black-haired boy groaned, "Shut it, old man – I'm gonna win that thirty bucks."

"You can try, Eugene…you can try."

Bixlow shot a poisoned look at Makarov for using his real name, but plunged back into his sandwich from hell.

Finally, after close to twenty minutes, a few glasses of water, and a lot of mess, Bixlow took the last bite of his mutated PB&J and slapped his hands down in the desk. The guys erupted into cheers and shouts led by Elfman and Alzack, and Master Makarov unhappily parted with his thirty bucks.

"Thanks for the free cash, old man," Bixlow laughed triumphantly.

Master gave a small snort of laughter, "That thirty dollars won't do you any good tonight when you're barfing all of that back up." Master got up from his seat and addressed the rest of us, "Dinner's at six tonight."

With that he left the students to themselves and disappeared out the door that led outside where he would probably trudge through the snow to get to his little condo.

As soon as the Headmaster was gone, Bixlow groaned and slouched in his seat, "I think I'm gonna sleep for a few days after that…ugh, I'm never having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again."

"It's your own fault," Evergreen sighed from behind him. She was leaning against the back of his seat, "That was disgusting."

After a few more groans from Bixlow, Elfman helped him stand up and took him towards the boy's dormitories where Bixlow could sleep off all that PP&J.

Mira shook her head and turned to Cana and Levy, "I love them, but guys can be pretty gross sometimes."

"Agreed," Cana nodded and stood from her seat, "Well, now that the show's over, what's on the agenda?"

Levy was about to say that she was going to go back to her room and read until she got sleepy, but Mira cut her off, "We're going to go exploring! I need to gather up some things for our activity tonight, and I'm dragging you two along with me."

Levy groaned, "I'm still injured – please just let me go and read." Levy looked at Mira with pleading eyes, but Mirajane was having none of that.

The platinum blonde shook her head, "Tsk, Tsk – Levy, I will not let you hole yourself up for the rest of the break just because you're in pain. You are coming with me, even if I have to carry you." Mirajane's lips curled up into a smirk, "Or…better yet, I'll find someone else to carry you. Maybe a certain broody boy."

Mira laughed fiendishly, but Levy didn't rise to the bait. She just shook her head and sighed, "I'll walk thank-you very much – and you're hopeless."

Cana rolled her eyes at the two, "Come on – are we going or what? I'm bored."

Mira nodded, "Yeah, yeah – let's go. I think we can find what I'm looking for in the classrooms. Levy, do you still have the key to the library?"

Levy nodded, "Yeah, back in my room…Why?"

Mira smiled, "Good – I'm pretty sure that key also works on the other doors in the school building. Let's try that out first, and if it doesn't work, we can always ask Master for the universal key he has."

Levy nodded, "Alright." She slowly got to her feet, using Cana as a support beam to pull herself out of her chair. She placed a hand on her bruised stomach to help ease some of the sharp pain, and started after Mira towards the girl's dormitory. "So are you going to tell me what it is that you're planning?"

Mira looked over her shoulder and smiled. Her eyes held that signature look that said "I'm planning something devious", which caused both Cana and Levy to shiver.

"If you can guess it after helping me, I'll tell you, but if you can't you'll just have to wait until tonight like everyone else." Mira's smile widened as she skipped a couple steps in excitement, "But I will tell you that it'll be fun."

Levy's shoulders sunk and she turned to Cana, "I just can't believe what she's saying when she's smiling so devilishly."

Cana nodded, "She's in one of her Matchmaking moods again…and this time I don't think she'll stop until she pairs up a couple people." Cana glanced down at Levy, "You might want to keep a look out for any mistletoe…"

As if expecting it to suddenly pop out of nowhere, Levy looked to the ceiling. Once she confirmed that there was no mistletoe magically following her around she looked back at Cana, "Thanks for the warning…Ugh, I don't think she's going to leave me be. I'll have to be extra careful for the rest of the break."

"Well, more people should be starting to trickle back here once New Year's Eve passes. Once more people show up, it'll be harder for her to focus purely on you."

"True – hopefully I can hold her off until then." Levy sighed.

Mira came back out of Levy's room holding the key that opened the library and maybe a couple other doors if Mira was lucky. The trio took off for the main building of the school, Mira smiling like the devil himself the whole way there.

* * *

><p>Gajeel leaned on the table as he ate his plate of dinner – which was three hotdogs and a small portion of salad. The studded boy eyes the salad suspiciously – it had some sort of oily dressing on it that smelled really gross.<p>

He shoved it to the side of his plate and started on the hot dogs. He ate silently, ignoring Alzack and Elfman to his left and a freshman girl to his right. Everyone was chatting away with their friends, making Gajeel wish that Lily would hurry up and come back.

Of course, he would never admit this out loud, but he missed his friend quite a lot. Lily was really the only person he liked at the school enough to hang out with.

So Gajeel sat quietly as he ate his dinner, complaining to himself about how bored he was.

Suddenly the doors to the cafeteria opened, turning every head at the table towards the two new faces that just walked in.

"Hey guys," a brightly blonde-haired boy said with a smirk. His blue eyes scanned the table as he waved to everyone.

"LAXUS!" Evergreen shouted excitedly as she tore out of her seat and ran to the blonde's side. Ever gave the blonde a hug, but he only seemed mildly interested. He was looking pointedly down the table.

Gajeel followed the blonde's gaze and found Levy at the end of it. She was sitting a couple chairs away from him between Mira and Cana, staring down at her plate and letting her hair hide her face – which from the small bits and pieces that Gajeel could see, looked much paler than normal. Her hand was shaking a bit as she pushed her food around her plate.

"So you guys got back early?" Master Makarov asked with a smile.

A tall and skinny guy with long green hair stepped out from Laxus' shadow and gave a small wave to the table of people as well. Fried answered Makarov, "Yes – our trip got canceled due to a bad snow storm, and my parents decided that we should just come back instead of waiting it out."

"Sorry to hear – but being here is just as much fun," Makarov laughed, "Grab an extra chair and dig in – we just started eating."

Fried nodded. The two newcomers grabbed two spare chairs that were stacked up in the corner of the cafeteria and slid them into place beside Evergreen's and Bixlow's seats at the table.

Soon the chatter started again, everyone splitting up into their own conversations, but Gajeel couldn't help but wonder about Levy's reaction. She had been scared at the mere mention of Laxus' name the other night, and now he could see that it really was him she was afraid of.

Gajeel kept a steady scowl aimed at the blonde – even though he barely knew Levy, he knew enough about her to know that her shyness wasn't out of fear of people, but because she was just a quiet person. If Levy was afraid of someone, it was probably for a serious reason…

The studded boy wasn't usually concerned with other people's business, but for some reason he really wanted to find out what Laxus had done to earn the blue-haired bookworm's fear. He figured he felt this way because he was bored and still felt a little guilty for hurting the girl and left it at that.

As he finished his hot dog he decided that he was going to find out what had happened between the two of them.

* * *

><p><strong>A?N: So hopefully I'll get out another update soon - hope you liked the new chapter. <strong>

**Also thought i'd tell you that for the sake of the story, Laxus isn't related to Makarov **

**Thanks for Reading :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey all! Woo! I managed an update in a relatively short time! haha hope you guys like it - we're getting closer to the good part xD**

**!~Enjoy~!**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter 6~<strong>

This was bad…really bad, Levy thought frantically to herself.

During school, Levy was able to keep a large distance between her and the blonde that haunted her because of all the people that provided a barrier – but now she didn't know what to do. How would she be able to avoid him for the next week and a half until the break ended if she didn't have the large crowds of people to buffer her from Laxus?

There were only so many people left here over the holidays, giving her a more likely chance of running into him.

Levy paced around her room in a flurry of panic. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself down, but it wasn't working. Her mind was too filled with old thoughts and memories. She pushed back the memories of that night and kept them from resurfacing. The last thing she needed was a breakdown right before Mira's little activity.

The blue-haired girl gripped a flashlight in her hands, her knuckles turning whiter than normal due to the intensity of her grasp. She took another deep breath and let it out slowly, "It'll be okay…I'll be fine. He might not even participate – I bet he's tired from his trip. So there's no reason to worry." She muttered these reassuring words to herself as she closed her eyes. "Maybe…maybe if I bring a book with me I'll be able to sneak off. Reading would make the night go by much faster."

Levy nodded to herself and plucked a thin 200 page book up from her nightstand and slid it into the back waistband of her pants. She threw on a slightly baggy hoodie to hide the book's outline and headed out the door with her flashlight in hand.

She allowed herself a smile as she thought about how Mirajane would react if she found out that the bookworm planned on ditching the mystery activity to read a book. Levy could only hope that she'd be able to sneak away unnoticed after a bit – and she could always use the excuse that she's still in pain, because in truth, the large bruise on her stomach was still bothering her.

Levy walked down the dormitory hallway towards the student body where Mira had told everyone to meet – well all of the upper classmen anyways. Levy didn't think Mira included the freshmen in her plans.

All Mirajane had said about the mystery event was to bring a flashlight and meet in the lobby at 10. She'd been fierce in her explanation that if anyone wasn't there, she'd come and drag them out. No one had a choice in the matter of participation it seemed, but Levy was still expecting at least someone to try to ditch out on the plans.

As the blue-haired girl pushed through the door and stepped into the lobby, she was greeted by multiple beams of light.

"Good!" Mira's voice chirped from behind the blinding beams of flashlights. The lobby was bathed in darkness except for the golden rays of light streaming from the group of Levy's fellow Holiday Stayers. "Okay then," Mira continued, "We're waiting for just a few more people and then I'll explain what we're doing."

Levy approached the group of sophomores, juniors, and seniors as they gathered around one of the love seats in the lobby. She stood next to Cana and noticed that even Gajeel was waiting for Mira to explain. He was scowling heavily with his arms crossed over his chest as he sat on the arm of the love seat.

Mira flashed her beam of light in his face. "Hey – no pouting, Gajeel! You're going to have fun," Mira complained.

"Shut up, demon," he growled in response, "I'm here, aren't I?"

Mirajane sighed, "You're so antisocial," Her fiendish blue eyes glanced to Levy as she finished, "I don't know how anyone puts up with you."

Levy rolled her eyes at her heavily implying friend and steered the subject away from Gajeel, "So who else are we waiting for? It looks like everyone's already here."

"Well, Laxus and Fried are supposedly on their way – they said they wanted to get settled a little bit first before coming."

Levy's lips tightened into a line and her pulse started to beat at a faster pace.

So he was coming after all, she thought faintly.

She gave her head a small shake – _No, everything would still be okay. Everything will be fine as long as I find a nice secluded spot where no one will bother me. Besides – it's been about two years since the incident, and Laxus hasn't even come near me in all this time. Maybe he wants to forget about it as much as I do…_

Levy tried her best to convince herself that this could be true – that Laxus was no longer out to get her. After all it was completely true that in the two years since the incident, he hadn't tried to do anything to her, or hint that wanted to.

But when the door that led into the boy's dormitories opened and the tall muscular blonde strode confidently through the doorway, her rational thoughts went out the window and she started to lean against the back of the loveseat for support of her weakening knees.

Mira grinned and quickly ran to Laxus and Fried. She got behind them and started pushing on their backs to hurry them up, "Finally! Now that we're all here, we can get started!"

"So are you finally going to explain what the heck we're doing?" Cana blurted out.

"Yes – So, tonight we're going on a treasure hunt!" Mira explained happily. Once Laxus and his green-haired friend were on the outer edge of the gathering, Mira threw herself onto the cushions of the loveseat, practically standing on the laps of Lisanna and her two sophomore friends, Angel and Sherry, who had squeezed together on the couch, "Each team of two is going search the school for a prize I've hidden."

Mira smiled and pulled a folded piece of paper from her jeans' pocket and held it up for everyone to see, "I've hidden clues about where to find it in a ton of places – nowhere is out of bounds except for outside because it's snowing pretty badly at the moment – but any door that's unlocked is fair game!"

"Wait," Alzack spoke up, "So what's this about teams?"

Mira's devilish smile spread across her face, "Since there's an even amount of guys and girls, excluding me, you'll be in boy-girl teams picked randomly. I've got all the girl's names written down on scraps of paper," at this point Mira pulled out a small crumpled plastic bag that Levy assumed already had the girls' names in it, "The guys will draw one and that will be the team."

Almost everyone sighed at Mira's explanation, but all knew better than to argue with her. The group all knew what she was doing and the only thing they could do was put up with it and hope for the best.

"So what's this prize?" Laxus asked, "Something good?"

Mira turned to the blonde and smiled, "That is a secret – but I can tell you that you'll be quite shocked once you see it." She hopped over the back of the loveseat and stood in the middle of the group. She held out the bag to Alzack, who was the closest to her at the moment, "Alright – time to pick teams."

Alzack reluctantly reaching into the bag and pulled out a small shred of paper. He unfolded it and read off the name, "Angel."

Angel smiled at this and pushed herself off the couch to go stand by her partner. He gave her a high-five and said, "We'll win for sure."

"Not a chance," Bixlow boasted as he threw his hand into the bag. He pulled out Sherry's name and starting going over strategies.

After all the guys pulled a name out of the bag, the teams were as follows: Alzack and Angel, Bixlow and Sherry, Laxus and Cana, Fried and Lisanna, Elfman and Levy, and Gajeel and Evergreen.

It was safe to say that neither person in the last group was very happy.

"That's not happening," Evergreen complained, giving Gajeel a distasteful look.

Mirajane sighed and muttered to herself, visibly unhappy about the groups that had been chosen, but then turned to Ever, "Too bad – he's your partner."

Evergreen gave a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, "Can't we re-pick partners?"

"No," Mira said flatly.

"Let's just get this over with," Gajeel growled. He looked viciously down at Ever and muttered something only she could hear.

She scowled at him but nodded, "Fine. Can we go look for this treasure now?"

Mira gave one last look at the groups and sighed, "Yeah – Ready, set, go!"

No one acted immediately. The six groups of two sort of separated themselves out and started discussing what they were going to do.

Levy smiled happily at Elfman – she was still going to go through with her plan to ditch from the game and go read, but she was glad that she got a good partner. She was thinking that she might have to lie, but considering it was Elfman, who she was relatively close to, she had no problem telling him the truth.

"You wouldn't mind terribly if I ditch this to go read somewhere, would you?" She asked with an apologetic smile.

Elfman only laughed, "Yeah, I figured you'd want to skip out on this – you're probably still hurting from the hockey game, right?"

Levy nodded, "That and I'm really not in the mood for Mira's games."

"I understand," Elfman laughed and gave a sideways glance at his sister, who was currently denying Bixlow's attempts to get a hint out of her, "I'll just say we split up to look separately if she asks."

Levy smiled, "Thanks, Elfman – you're amazing!"

"A real man doesn't need a partner to win anyways," he teased, "Go read your book."

Levy nodded and started towards the door that would lead into the school's main building. She turned to Elfman and said solely for the purpose of tricking Mirajane, "Text me if you find a clue."

Elfman winked, "Got it."

The two split up, and Levy grinned to herself as she tried to think of a place where she could read her book in peace.

* * *

><p>Gajeel grumbled to himself as he absently clicked on and off his flashlight. He was walking through the dark cafeteria purely because Evergreen had taken off in the direction opposite of it. He wanted to be as far away from that bitch as possible and this seemed the best escape route.<p>

Except now he was alone and had no idea what he was doing.

"Damn it, Lily better come back early because I can't stand these people any more." First there was that demon matchmaker who'd cornered him earlier and practically threatened his life if he didn't show up for her mystery thing, and then there was that bitchy Evergreen who just wouldn't shut up with her complaints. It wasn't like he wanted to be her partner either.

He would have chosen anyone other than her – even one of the little sophomore girls who looked at him as if he was going to start clawing their eyes out. He smirked at the fact that they were afraid of him and suddenly remembered the look on Levy's face when Mira mentioned that Laxus was going to play along as well.

The bookworm's face had tightened visibly, but no one paid her much attention. I guess if you didn't know to look for it, you wouldn't notice the girl's extreme reaction.

And then when the blonde actually showed up, strutting through the door like he was the ever-loving God Almighty himself, he saw the shrimpy girl lose her balance and have to prop herself up against the couch for support. He didn't understand why, but at that moment he felt the urge to stand up from his seat on the arm of the couch and punch the blonde in the face.

He shook his head at himself – why the hell did he care so much? He usually didn't like to put himself in other people's business, but for some reason he felt like the scrawny bookworm needed his help.

"Damn it," the studded boy repeated himself. He shone his flashlight all over the room, looking for some sort of hint or clue that would explain where the damned prize was. If he was going to participate in the demon's stupid game, he might as well win and get the chance to rub it in everyone else's faces.

"That prize better be something good," he grumbled to himself.

Suddenly one of the side doors pushed open, and Gajeel turned his light over to the outline in the doorway.

"Find anything yet?" Elfman's voice called from the doorway.

Gajeel shone his light in the junior's eyes and gave a small laugh, "Nope – but this prize better be worth it. I can name at least ten other things I'd rather be doing."

Elfman shielded his eyes from the light and stepped further into the room, "Same here – I'm her brother and Mira wouldn't even give me a hint about what it is."

Gajeel sighed, "This sucks." He turned his light to shine on the buffet counter that connected the cafeteria to the kitchen. The studded boy glanced back at Elfman who'd started to look under the circular table and chairs set up in the middle of the room and realized that he was alone.

"So where's the shrimp? Wasn't she your partner?" Gajeel asked, trying to sound nonchalant and simply conversational.

Elfman gave a small laugh, "She's not a fan of Mira's games either. She went off to read somewhere – though if Mira asks, we split up to cover more ground."

"Bookworm," Gajeel muttered as he rolled his eyes. Leave it to her to decide that reading was more interesting than this mystery prize – though Gajeel did have to admit that a lot of things sounded better than playing the demon's silly treasure hunt.

"That's Levy," Elfman sighed as she popped back up from beneath the table, "She's been like that since we were kids."

Gajeel searched the empty pots and pans in the kitchen and asked over the counter that connected the two rooms, "How long've you known her?"

"Eh – since elementary school. She was friends with Mira, and usually spent some of her summers at our house." Elfman peered behind a bland painting on the wall, and even from the kitchen, Gajeel could hear a piece of paper fluttering down to the ground.

"Hah! I found a clue!" Elfman exclaimed excitedly.

"What's it say?" Gajeel asked.

Elfman seemed to read the paper for a second then grin over at the studded boy, "Find your own – I'm in this to win."

Gajeel rolled his eyes and continued searching, "Well so am I…unless the prize sucks."

Elfman waved and jogged out one of the doors, heading towards the main building of the school that held all the classrooms. Gajeel sighed and went back to waving his flashlight beam around the room.

He wasn't really paying attention until a small corner of paper caught his eye. Atop one of the stove burners but hidden partially under a large pot, a small corner of paper stuck out. Gajeel hurried over to it and slipped the paper out from underneath the pot.

He unfolded it and spotted girly cursive writing that stated: _Good job! You're one step closer. HINT: It's not on the ground floor._

Gajeel smirked to himself and shoved the clue in his pocket. With a few excited clicks of his flashlight, Gajeel took off towards the main building as well, hoping that he'd be able to find this prize quickly so that he could get on with his life.

* * *

><p>It had probably been an hour since Mira's game had started, but the time seemed to pass by in an instant for Levy. She'd nestled herself in Master Makarov's office in hopes that no one would venture this far up. His office was on the third floor of the left wing that really held nothing but the personal offices of the teachers and a few study rooms where students were allowed to do their homework or hold study groups without being bothered by others.<p>

Master's office was quite large as far as offices go, but rather empty furniture wise. Besides a desk that seemed much too large for their short headmaster, a few filing cabinets and a small stretch of counter that held a coffee maker and a couple mugs, it was barren.

Levy had curled herself up in Master's large chair, careful of course not to let anything bump into her bruised midsection. She had buried herself in Susan Collins' newest Hunger Games book, and was already more than halfway done with it.

Her eyes were glued to the words, completely taken in by the vivid imagery of Collins' words. She was so absorbed in the story that she didn't hear the footsteps echoing down the hallway beyond the door of Master's office, nor did she hear the handle turn and the door swing open slowly.

Hungry blue eyes watched her for at least five minutes before startling her out of her own little world. "The treasure hunt get too boring for you?" a confident and syrupy voice asked from the doorway.

Levy knew that voice.

The book fell from her hands and her body reacted violently to the new voice by pushing her chair away from the desk and clasping her fingers to the arms of her seat.

"Laxus," she breathed, her voice shaky and unstable.

She looked up at him and saw his tall and muscular form leaning against the doorframe of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes smiling ravenously at her.

The blue-haired girl couldn't move – her body was paralyzed with fear as she realized that Cana – who was supposed to be Laxus' partner – wasn't with him. She was all alone with him…

Just like before.

"There's no clue or prize in here – I searched before I started to read," Levy said quickly, hoping that it was just a coincidence that he had chosen to look in this room out of all the others. Just a coincidence that he had found her when her whole goal of the night was to seclude herself where no one would look for her. Just a coincidence that he happened to be alone when he stumbled upon her, who was also alone.

Just a coincidence.

Or so she tried to tell herself. That all changed when his lips turned into a toothy smile.

But this wasn't the smile that he showed to his friends – not the smile he used to lie with – but the smile she saw that constantly haunted her dreams. The one that terrified her. The one that truly spelled out the true nature of the handsome blonde boy that everyone either loved or looked up to.

Levy cringed and gripped the arms of her chair tighter, causing her knuckles to turn almost translucently pale. Her mind tried to think of a way to get out of here – a way to escape – but she was too frightened to think clearly. All she could do was stare at the desk to avoid seeing that look in his eyes and that horrible smile on his lips.

"You know," he said almost conversationally, as if he'd merely come up here to have a chat with a friend, "After two years, you'd think that seeing you cringe every time I got within thirty feet of you would get old – but it's still as entertaining as hell."  
>Laxus stepped away from the doorframe and took a few steps into the room. He gave the open door a small shove and listened eagerly as the door clicked closed behind him.<p>

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><p><strong>Dun-Dun-Dun-Daaaaaaaaaa<strong>

**Cliffhanger~! Sorry about that haha Hope you liked it. I promise i'll get the new chapter up soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I can't believe how quickly I was able to finish this chapter! It's probably weird, but I love writing creeper-Laxus xD ~ oh and just a warning, there's more swearing than usual in this chapter - but that's to be expected as this is Gajeel we're talking about lol**

**So without further adieu, I present the newest chapter!**

**~Enjoy~**

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><p><strong>~Chapter 7~<strong>

He came closer, closing the small distance between the two of them. Levy forced her legs into motion, and she stumbled out of her seat at Makarov's desk. She held onto the edge of the desk as he came near her, and moved so that the desk was always between them.

Laxus let out a small laugh, completely amused at the look of fear and panic on the petit girl's face. Her large brown eyes seemed to quiver as she stared at him.

"Oh come on, Levy – I'm not that scary am I?" He teased.

"I…I haven't said anything," Levy stammered, staying on the opposite side of the desk from him, "Not to anyone…so – just leave me alone and we can pretend that nothing ever happened."

Laxus sat on the corner of the desk and looked at levy with his shining blue eyes, "But it's true. Nothing actually happened that night." He ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, "Our special moment was interrupted."

Levy swallowed loudly and spoke, "Can't you just leave me alone? I don't…I don't understand. I don't understand you."

Laxus sighed, "Well, I don't understand you either, if that helps. You make no sense to me at all." He stood back up and wandered over to the counter with the coffee maker on it. He absently touched a few of the mugs and continued.

"Why now? Why are you…why after two years of nothing are you coming after me now?" Levy asked hesitantly. She was so confused. So scared. So filled with fear – but she wanted to know this. He had seemingly ignored her for two years – leaving her alone except for giving her odd stares when no one was paying attention – so what made him do it? Did he actually have a reason, or did he just feel like messing with her mental health?

She could hear the smile in his voice as he answered, "I don't know…after we were interrupted, I thought that I'd lose interest in you. You were so quiet and dull compared to other girls – had freaked out when other girls would have gladly given in – but you were interesting. I thought that you'd try to tell someone, or transfer schools, but you stayed and kept quiet. Nothing you did made any sense to me, so I just watched you."

"You would flinch any time someone brought my name up, cringe when I entered the room, get flustered if I came too close – and all the while, no one seemed to notice your odd behavior. You were just so goddamned entertaining, that I couldn't help but play with you…but now…"

He turned away from the counter and faced the blue-haired girl once again, "You know? I've been thinking about that night a lot recently. I can't _stop_ thinking about it, actually. That memory is always lingering in my head – mocking me. Reminding me of what I don't have. We were so close back then – and I really want that back."

Levy shook her head, "No…that was all a lie. If I'd have known…if I knew the real you back then I wouldn't have –"

"Come on, Levy – don't tell me you don't miss that. You were so nice to me – so warm," Laxus interrupted.

A small plan was starting to form in Levy's mind. Her fear and panic were starting to allow her logic to break through and re-start her brain. Her plan was a little risky, but she felt that it was the only way she'd be able to escape successfully.

Laxus took long strides around the desk – Levy backed up a little, but allowed him to catch up to her. The two of them stood to the side of Master's large desk – no longer separated by dark-stained wood and a slew of scattered paperwork. His large hand clamped down on her wrist and he continued, "You were the first person to actually attempt to get to know me instead of blindly adoring me like everyone else had. You tried so hard to get me to open up – but I don't think you liked what you saw. I let you see the real me instead of that false face I put on for everyone else."

He pulled her by the wrist and brought her closer to him. His other hand touched the underside of her chin and tipped her face up to look directly at his. She was still scared, but the fear was finally allowing her to think.

_Just stay calm,_ she warned herself, _You can do this – you have to do this. No one is coming to save you this time._

Laxus brought his face to hover over hers and eyed her with hungry desire. His lips parted in anticipation and he absently licked his lips. He whispered, "This is what you wanted – to see the real me. So tell me – are your lips just as sweet as they were last time?"

Suddenly Laxus brought his lips down on hers with such force that Levy had to fight back her natural reaction to start squirming. She held in a scream and tried to calm her quivering body.

His lips moved against her stationary ones, and when her mouth didn't open as he wanted it to, he clenched her lip between his teeth and bit down hard enough to make Levy let out a startled gasp.

Levy felt like a doll in his hands – paralyzed and helpless to fight against what he wanted. His hand stayed clenched on her wrist, but the other one was touching as much of her body as he possibly could. Her neck, her hips, her bruised stomach. His free hand felt like ice as it edged beneath her clothing.

Still, Levy stayed still. She was waiting for her chance – her plan could work as long as she kept her head. His lips moved from her mouth to her small and pale neck. Horrible shivers ran down her spine as she felt his tongue glide across her skin and his teeth softly bite at the base of her neck. Ice seemed to replace the blood in her veins as his cold hand slid farther up her stomach and came to the edge of her bra.

And then, the moment she was waiting for came.

His hold on her wrist slackened for just a moment.

That second was all she needed.

Levy launched herself into action. Her knee came up and rammed him in the crotch, her elbow whipped around and smacked him in the jaw and she wrenched her other arm out of his grasp. He staggered back and doubled over in pain. His head snapped up with a fierce and startled look that deformed his deceivingly handsome face, but the intended recipient of his anger was already at the doorway.

Levy ran at full speed for the door and scrambled to turn the knob. Her shaking hands finally managed it and as she wrenched open the door, she sprinted away as fast as she could. She was so focused on getting away that she didn't even look back to see if Laxus was following her or not. Levy ran as fast as she could, praying that could find a group of people before Laxus could catch up.

He would be down for a moment or two, but he was tough. He'd be able to recover from the small blows she'd dealt him – she wasn't exactly a blackbelt, so she had no way of knowing if she'd actually done any damage or not – and he would probably come chasing after her.

Hopefully the hits would be enough to give her a good head start – Levy may be a small indoors-y type of girl, but she could run pretty fast if she needed to.

Suddenly she heard harsh footsteps pounding the hallway tiles behind her.

He was coming.

She forced her legs to carry her faster, and then darted down the stairwell that would take her to the second floor of the school.

_Please let there be someone down here_, she pleaded to herself. If she could only find someone else, Laxus would be forced to back down.

She heard his laugh echo down to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She ran out onto the second floor and hoped desperately to see a beam of light from a flashlight and an outline of one of her fellow Holiday-Stayers. Levy would even be happy if she came across Evergreen – the blonde chasing her wouldn't dare ruin his façade if one of his "friends" were nearby to see it.

The blue-haired girl turned a corner.

Her heart leapt as she caught the vague outline of someone familiar standing right in front of her, their back facing her as they swept a flashlight farther down the hall. Unfortunately, she was running too fast to stop and ended up crashing right into her angel of salvation.

The outline gave a startled curse, as he staggered forward. The voice was gruff and very familiar, but Levy was still too panicked to think straight. Even after crashing at full speed into the outline, Levy's savior didn't fall to the ground.

"What the fu –" the large outline said as he started to turn around.

Levy's legs chose this moment to give out from exhaustion, and sent her falling towards the ground. Her eyes clenched shut as she braced herself for impact – but she never hit the ground.

A large and callused hand had managed to grab her by the waist and pull her back to her feet. "Bookworm?" the gruff voice of her shadowy savior asked.

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><p>Gajeel looked down at the blue-haired girl that was currently only able to stand because he had been able to slide an arm around her waist at the last moment. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but she had close to no strength left in her. She looked completely drained, and he doubted it was because she'd actually been participating in the treasure hunt.<p>

"What's going on?" he asked her.

He could hear her panting breaths as she replied in a weak voice, "Gajeel? Sorry – I didn't mean to run into you." Her round eyes looked up and met his.

He shook his head at her and tried to stand her up on her own two feet, "What the hell's going on?" He brought his flashlight beam to shine on the ground at her feet so that he could get a better look at her. Her skin was more pale than usual, looking almost sickly in the dim light of his flashlight. Her eyes were wide and had a remnant of fear reflected in them, though she seemed oddly relieved at the same time. She was panting lightly and as he briefly scanned her face, his eyes stopped on her lips.

His usual scowl deepened. Her bottom lip showed a small and fresh bruise, and even in the shallow light he could spot teeth marks.

Levy struggled to regain her balance and pulled her body out of Gajeel's hold. "Sorry, I-"

"What happened to your lip?" he interrupted. He stared with creased eyes at her bitten lip.

Her hand automatically came to her lip and delicately touched it with her thin fingers. She put a little pressure on it and jerked her hand away in reaction to pain. "I – I must have bitten myself harder than I thought."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her. "How'd you manage to do that?" he asked skeptically. The bite marks looked a little too far down on her lip to look natural…but what else was he supposed to believe?

He heard a laugh from around the corner that she'd just come sprinting from, and shone his light in that direction. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Levy's figure stiffen and take a hesitant step backwards, almost coming to a point where she was hiding behind him.

"She really is pretty clumsy, huh?" a blonde headed and tall figure mused as he turned the corner and stepped into Gajeel's light. Laxus was smiling, but his eyes shone with something more sinister.

Gajeel's jaw tightened as he saw a small red mark on the blonde's chin.

As if he'd been hit.

"What do you want, Laxus?" Gajeel spat. He may not be the smartest student in the school, but he could put two and two together. Levy looking like she'd just been chased by the devil himself and Laxus with that hit mark and a smug look on his face – he didn't need to be a straight-A student to figure out that something was wrong, and that Levy was clearly in some kind of trouble.

Laxus gave another small and humorless laugh and came closer to both Gajeel and Levy. He let his hands rest on his hips as he spoke, "Oh, nothing. Just looking for that prize. Levy was helping me since she split up with her partner." He aimed a grin at the girl half hidden by Gajeel's body.

"Yeah," Gajeel growled, "And I'm the fucking Queen of England."

Laxus gave out an echoing laugh as a small hand clasped around Gajeel's wrist. Her voice spoke softly, but even in its quiet tone Gajeel could hear the fear and urgency reflected in it, "Please, Gajeel, don't – let's just get out of here."

"So since when have you started being her bodyguard?" Laxus asked, taking another step forward, "I didn't peg you for the chivalrous type – or maybe you want something from her. Is that it?"

Gajeel wanted nothing but to punch the guy, but he held himself back. "Fuck off, Blondie. I'm sure your little fan club is about to blow their brains out now that they've lost their master. You better run along to make sure they haven't all killed themselves because they couldn't find you."

"Tch," Laxus rolled his eyes, "It's you who should be moving along, dick – Levy and I weren't finished talking."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the ill-intented blonde and dropped an arm around Levy's small shoulders, "Too bad, because I think she's finished with you." He spun around – dragging Levy with him in the process – and started walking away down the hall. He caught a glimpse of Laxus' pissed face just as he turned and bit back a victorious smile as he steered Levy away from the scene. Her body still seemed to be shaking a bit, but she kept quiet until the duo turned a few corners.

Once he figured they were far enough away from Laxus for the girl to start calming down, Gajeel stopped and pulled his arm off of Levy's shoulders. He turned to her and just stared for a moment, still not quite sure what the hell was going on.

She fidgeted under his stare, "Uh…thanks, Gajeel. I – I'm sorry I dragged you into that."

He shook his head and finally asked the question that had been nagging him. "What the hell did he do to you?"

Her face paled at the question and her jaw tightened to a point of immobility.

He narrowed his eyes at her, hoping to get her to spill. He needed to know, goddamnit!

Levy only shook her head and muttered faintly, "N-Nothing. It's alright – I'm just being stupid."

"No," Gajeel said angrily, "You're being hurt."

She shook her head, but he could see the shine in her eyes that suggested tears were on their way, "Just leave it alone…it's nothing."

"_That_ isn't nothing," Gajeel glanced down at her bruised lip. "He did that, didn't he?" he accused.

She didn't say anything.

"Those teeth marks can't be yours – they look too big. So just tell me what the hell is going on, already."

She looked down to the floor and said weakly, "Why should I have to tell you? I – I just started talking to you a few days ago."

Gajeel let out a frustrated breath at this and crossed his arms over his broad chest, "Because I'm already gonna beat the shit outta the guy – I might as well have a legitimate reason."

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><p>She stared at him incredulously. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions she was feeling at the moment, the way he said that last statement somehow sparked a laugh that came out as a half-sob, half-laugh. Levy had a no idea why this trouble-making boy was so determined. They barely knew each other – had started talking only days ago – so why did this matter to him? Why did he even care enough to know?<p>

And why did she want to tell him?

She sighed. Levy did know him well enough to say that he was viciously determined – that was evident by the narrow look in his small dark eyes – and maybe if he, a relative stranger, knew her terrible secret, it might make it easier for her to tell someone else.

She closed her eyes and leaned her back against the nearest wall, "Fine…but, can we not talk about it here?" she held her hands out in front of her to look at them and noticed that she was still shaking, "Maybe somewhere where it isn't so dark."

Gajeel nodded and dropped his narrowed gaze, "You look like you're about to fall over, anyways."

Levy sighed, "I feel that way."

"Well, come on – I'll take you down to the lobby."

Before she had time to protest or lie about being able to stand on her own, Gajeel's large hand had once again wound its way around her waist and started walking her slowly down the rest of the hallway and towards the other flight of stairs that would take them back down to the ground floor.

Levy felt her cheeks heat up a bit as she had no choice but to lean against his torso for support. He was wearing a gray hoodie jacket, but she could feel his body heat through the worn fabric. It was oddly comforting, but unnerving at the same time. How could he just hold onto her like this so casually? Was she being stupid for letting his touch bother her so much?

She tried to shake those thoughts away, but found that the warmth to her cheeks was there to stay until he let go of her.

Once they were at the stairwell, it took a lot of slow and careful steps and some cautious maneuvering to get Levy down the stairs with as little amount of pain as possible due to her previous bruises and fear-induced fatigue. After a good five minutes or so, they managed to get to the ground floor. As quickly as they could, they worked their way through the last remaining hallways that kept them from the student lobby.

A short way from the door that would lead them into the large open room, Gajeel spoke, "What's your room number?"

Levy's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, "W-why?"

"So I know which one it is," he said, as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, once we get to the lobby I should be able to get to my room on my own," she answered nervously.

He gave an exasperated sigh and looked down at her, "If you don't tell me what's going on tonight, you'll just keep finding reasons to put it off. So unless you want Mira seeing me following you to your room, you should just tell me the number and I'll sneak in later."

"Fine," she gave in, "it's 24A – but don't let anyone see you. Mira's head would explode if she thought…well, you know what she's like." Levy cursed herself as she felt her cheeks heat up once again. If Mira heard about Gajeel sneaking into the girls' dormitories, she'd have a field-day imagining what he had been doing there…and who he was with.

He nodded, ignoring the blush on the blue-haired girl's face, and pushed open the door that led into the lobby.

Levy scanned the room, hoping that no one else was there – she really didn't want everyone seeing her in Gajeel's arms like this – but of course, Levy was usually unlucky.

Mira – the worst case scenario for Levy's current situation – was sitting on one of the loveseats, sipping at a mug of what was probably hot-chocolate since the platinum blonde didn't like coffee. The lights were on once again in the lobby, and she immediately noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye.

Levy cursed in her mind as a large smile broke out across Mira's lips. "Well what do we have –" but her smile suddenly faded. She must have either seen the newly formed bruise on Levy's face, or have noticed how horrible she probably looked, because she was soon on her feet and hurrying over to the duo in the doorway. "What happened?" she asked, her eyes coming to the bruise.

Fatigue was plaguing Levy's mind, so much so that she couldn't come up with a decent excuse for the bruise. In fact she started feeling much too tired to really speak at all.

Luckily, it seemed that Gajeel had already come up with something, "My fault again. I wasn't paying attention and I bumped into her. Sent her face-first into the corner of the door and she somehow managed to bite her lip pretty bad. I think she must have bumped her head wound too because she got really dizzy all of a sudden. Couldn't even walk by herself without falling."

Mira groaned and moved aside some of Levy's hair to take a closer look at the head wound from the other day that she had "bumped". Mirajane hummed to herself, "Well, it doesn't look like it reopened or anything – damn, Gajeel, she's clumsy enough without you adding too it."

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders as he started passing Levy's weight over to Mira's arms, "Yeah, well, I can't do anything about it now."

Levy had to hold in a small laugh – the way he sounded made it entirely believable. She bet he would have been great in the drama club if he wanted to.

"You're hopeless," Mira sighed, not really specifying about who she was talking about.

"Whatever, demon," Gajeel countered, "It's your stupid game's fault. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't threatened me to come out and participate."

"Tch – don't blame me for your carelessness. Gah – I'm gonna take Levy back to her room now."

Gajeel grunted in acknowledgment and turned towards the guy's dormitories as Levy nodded and said weakly, "Thanks Mira."

Mirajane smiled down at her blue-haired friend, "Seriously, what am I going to do with you? You'll eventually turn into one giant bruise."

Levy gave a small laugh as the two started towards the girl's dormitories. "I guess this week just doesn't like me."

Mira shook her head, "I think gravity must have a problem with you." The two passed into the girl's wing of the building, and as the door closed behind them Mira looked down at her friend, "But~" Her voice sounded mischievous once again, "Despite my whole team-idea turning into a fiasco, it looks like my plans were sort of a success."

Levy shook her head slightly, "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Antisocial seemed to be holding you pretty closely – and I totally caught that blush on your cheeks…well before I noticed the nasty bruise on your lip, anyways." Mira smiled happily to herself as they rounded the corner that would take them towards the A-room hallway.

"Well what other choice did he have? I was close to useless on my own two feet…and if I happened to be blushing it was probably because it was awkward and I'm not used to people – let alone guys – touch me like that." Levy defended. She knew that lying to Mira would only fan the flames of her psychotic match-making personality, so the bookworm decided it was best to be honest…at least partially.

Mira only snickered to herself, "Say what you will, but I see something there.

Levy sighed, "Just help me to my room so I can go to bed…it's been a long night."

And it wasn't even over yet, Levy thought sadly. Before the night was over, she was going to have to relive her worst memory – to Gajeel, of all people!

She wished this night could just be over already.

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><p>"Mira – that was the worst prize ever!" Lisanna complained.<p>

She threw a heart-shaped red box at her sister and plopped down on the couch. Lisanna and Fried had been the victors – finding the poorly marketed prize in the second story band room inside a tuba that had been left there over the break. It had been a single box of chocolates with a small note reading: _Congratulations! You're a winner! Enjoy these delicious sweets with your partner!_

"They're stale!" Lisanna grumbled as she glared at her sister.

Mirajane laughed nervously, "Well it was the best I could do – that was all Makarov had that was relatively decent to give away, and it was snowing too badly for me to actually go to the corner store for something better."

Fried sighed and leaned against the back of the couch, "Well, it was sort of fun, at least."

"You're only saying that because you're too nice to say you were bored out of your mind," Cana's voice said from the doorway. She'd just entered the room with a slightly annoyed look on her face

Fried didn't deny her statement. He just stood up and turned towards the doorway that Cana had just entered, "Well, I'll go see if I can find everyone else and tell them that it's over."

Mira pouted a little bit, "Well, at least you two can brag about winning."

Lisanna just sent her sister another glare and muttered to Mira so that no one else could hear, "And of course I got stuck with the quietest guy – he barely talked the whole time."

Cana came up behind Mirajane and slouched against her shoulder, "You didn't plan this out too well – you probably would have had more fun being paired with Fried than your sister."

"Don't remind me – damn, well at least I got a small victory out of this." Mira smiled to herself and glanced to Cana.

"And what was that?" Cana asked skeptically.

Mirajane snickered, "Levy managed to get hurt again – bruised her lip and bumped her head again."

"What? How is that good news?" Cana blurted out.

"Well, that bit wasn't so good – but the part where Gajeel practically carried her back down to the lobby was a lot better."

"You're over exaggerating, demon," A gruff voice said from behind them.

Mira, Cana and Lisanna all turned to see Gajeel scowling at them from the boy's dormitory entrance. He narrowed his eyes at the self-proclaimed matchmaker.

Mira sighed in exasperation, "Well – she was leaning on you quite a bit. You were close to carrying her, at least."

"Tch – it was my fault the shrimp got hurt again – what was I supposed to do, leave her there to crawl back?"

"Wait – you hurt her again?" Cana asked.

"S'not like I did it on purpose," he defended, "Anyways – what was that damned prize? I wanted to find out before I fell asleep."

"Stale chocolates – me and Fried found them," Lisanna answered with another glare aimed at her sister.

"Great," Gajeel complained, "So I wasted my entire crappy night for gross chocolates. I could have been sleeping or something more important."

"I don't think the whole night was a waste," a new voice added from across the room.

Before Mira could turn to face the newcomer, she saw an intense scowl wash over Gajeel's heavily pierced face. Mira almost gasped at the ferocity she saw in his eyes – sure, most of his expressions were centered around foul looking scowls and frowns, but this one was startlingly intense.

She turned and saw Laxus at the doorway that connected to the main part of the school. Mira shook her head slightly – she was probably imagining it, but the look in the blonde-boy's eyes looked odd. More wild than usual, if that was possible.

"I had some fun with it, at least," Laxus continued. He turned and gave Mira one of his charming smiles and she quickly put the odd look in his eyes onto the back burner of her mind. She was probably just imagining it anyways.

"Yeah, well, I thought it was retarded," Evergreen complained from behind him. She quickly attached herself to Laxus' muscular arm, "I couldn't find you at all."

Laxus shrugged, "You must not have looked hard enough." He gave a small laugh, "Well, I'm tired. See you all in the morning." He pulled out of Ever's grasp and started across the room towards the boy's dormitories.

As he passed by Gajeel though, Mira noticed that wild look in the blonde's eyes again and saw a smirk settle on his lips. That short smile seemed to be daring Gajeel to do something, but what that something was, Mira had no idea. She could be imagining the whole thing, but that smile of Laxus' seemed more dangerous than Gajeel's darkened scowl.

The blonde passed without a word and soon disappeared into the dorms. Ever sighed dramatically and said, "Well, without Laxus it's not worth staying up. Later, losers." She gave a mock wave and disappeared into the girl's side of the building.

Mira quickly stood from her seat and turned to Gajeel, "What the hell was that horrible look?

Gajeel glanced at the platinum blonde, his face returning to it's normal unhappy look and losing that dark aura, "None of your business."

Cana and Lisanna – who hadn't noticed Gajeel's murderous glare or Laxus' odd smile – watched in confusion. Mira's brows creased, "I know you and Laxus aren't exactly buddies, but you've never been that hostile towards him before. I would have noticed."

Gajeel grunted and started walking towards the boy's dormitories as well. "It's nothing – I just owe that bastard a good beating," he spat before disappearing into the boy's side of the building.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry - another cliffhanger. I wanted to keep the chapter going, but figured there was probably a limit to how much Psycho-Laxus I should include in one chapter haha**

**But I promise, all (or at least most) of your questions will be answered in the next update - and I'm on a roll with this story recently so expect it soon!**

**Hope you liked it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**7774 words...damn this chapter was a monster, but i just couldn't bring myself to break it up into two because I promised you guys that I'd reveal her past with Laxus in this chapter lol i just had no idea that i would feel the need to write so much of it haha Well, here it is - the answer to probably most of your questions.**

**Beware though: I tried to keep it T rated, and I think I've done well to keep it within the rating - but be warned. You'll know the part when you get to it.**

**~Enjoy~**

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><p>Levy glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was now about 1:30 in the morning. She had thought she'd be able to get a little rest before Gajeel snuck over, but found that she just couldn't sleep. While her body was wiped out and tired to the point that her legs started to shake if she stood for longer than a minute, her mind was too hyped up to allow her to relax.<p>

While the fear had mostly vanished, she was uncomfortable with being alone. She found herself wishing that Gajeel would hurry up – but also hoping at the same time that he wouldn't come at all. She really didn't want to relive that night – the bad memory that she fought constantly to keep locked away in the back of her mind should just stay there where it wasn't bothering her. She was a whole mixture of conflicting emotions, and just wished the night would end. Levy sat at the edge of her bed, just staring at the door. She was restless, but unfortunately her body was too tired to pace around the room like she usually did. This left her with nothing to do but fidget with her hands while she waited. Levy didn't think she could even read a book, her mind was so jazzed and distracted.

The petit girl watched the red numbers on her alarm clock pass silently by. It was close to two in the morning when Levy finally heard a small knock on her door.

"Come in," she said weakly, as she pulled her legs up onto the bed and hugged her knees to her body. Her stomach started to do flips as she watched the door start to swing inward.

She knew that it was Gajeel – she _knew_ that – but an irrational side of her feared that it was the tormenting blonde at her bedroom door.

Levy scolded herself for worrying as Gajeel's large mane of black hair slid into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He took a small step into the room and looked around at all the girly-type posters and decorations that littered the room thanks to Lucy's random taste in décor and Levy's indifference about how the room looked.

Levy watched him scowl at a poster of a boy-band that hung over Lucy's bed, but noticed that his scowl held a less menacing look in his current state.

"You're not wearing your jewelry," Levy commented before really thinking about how that sounded. His olive-toned skin was, for once, not reflective as Gajeel was wearing none of his usual metallic studs on his face. Levy was surprised to see that he looked much less intimidating without all those metal discrepancies on his face.

He grimaced, "Don't call it jewelry – and yeah, I can't wear them to bed. They end up getting caught on everything and leaving retarded marks on my face." He absently thumbed at his nose, where he usually had a shiny black orb sticking out on his right nostril.

"You look different without them," Levy said lightly. Without his shiny studs, his face seemed a lot smoother – but Levy secretly thought that he looked better with his piercings. They just completely matched his personality.

Gajeel shrugged and stepped further into the room. His dark eyes narrowed as he seemed to think about something. Suddenly he pulled Levy's desk chair from its place tucked into her white writing desk and roughly set it in front of where Levy sat on her bed. He straddled it so that he could prop his arms on the back of the chair and face Levy at the same time.

He crossed his muscular arms on the back of the chair and brought his chin down to rest on them. "So," he started with a rough voice, "Tell me why I'm going to beat up that blonde bastard." He stared at her with his intense eyes, waiting for her to speak.

Levy sighed and pulled her legs closer to her body, ignoring the pain signals that her bruised stomach was sending her. She felt weak again – her body was reacting to the stress of everything she'd gone through that night.

And worst of all, she felt scared.

This was a secret that she'd kept for two years now. She hadn't told anyone – not her best friends, not Master Makarov, and not even her distanced parents. Levy hadn't uttered a word to anyone, and now…now she was being tormented by the blonde that had until recently kept to scaring her in her dreams. Now she was going through it again, but this time worse…and now she was being cornered into telling an almost-complete stranger her deepest secret - her worst nightmare.

Gajeel let out a sigh, "You're just talking. Words aren't anything to be scared of. A bookworm like you should know that."

"But…I…what if you," she muttered quietly. She didn't want Gajeel thinking she was…well, she had no idea what she might think she was after hearing her secret – but she was afraid that it would somehow change how he thought of her. Levy didn't want their small friendship to get distorted before it had a chance to even start – Gajeel was an interesting person, and she wanted to get to know him better.

"Hey!" He interrupted in his rough tone, "You don't need to worry about what other people think – especially not me. Besides, do you really think that I'm dumb enough to think this is somehow your fault? Whatever it is that you're going to tell me, I can guarantee you that it's no one's fault but that damned blonde's."

Levy took a few deep breaths, letting her mind slowly unlock the bad memories from the mental cell she'd confined them too. She felt her heart begin to quiver as she wondered how she was going to explain it all. Where the hell was she supposed to start?

She let out a strangled breath and shook her head slightly from side to side, as if that would somehow knock loose the right memory that she was supposed to start from.

"Just start from the beginning," Gajeel said. His voice sounded odd – almost like he was trying to subdue the gruffness to it, but had failed.

"Okay…I guess it started sophomore year," Levy finally spoke, "That was the year Laxus transferred to Magnolia Academy."

* * *

><p><em>It was the library's fault. Everything happened because Levy had decided to read in the library that day. Had she chosen a different spot, or decided to do something else for a change, maybe she wouldn't have all these problems. Maybe she wouldn't have had to go through such terrifying events.<em>

_Levy was two years younger, but much the same. The two years between her sophomore and senior years hadn't changed her much except for letting her hair grow out a few more inches. She pushed through one of the double doors that led into the school's library, with a soft smile on her face._

_She was excited – a new book had come in today that she'd been waiting forever to read. It was a collection of short stories by her favorite author, and she couldn't wait to burry herself in them._

"_Ah – I was wondering when you'd get here," the Magnolia's librarian, Mrs. Virgo smiled from her desk._

_Levy's smile grew, "Do you have it?"_

_Mrs. Virgo nodded and handed her a thick book. Levy's insides flipped excitedly – as she held the book in her hands she could feel the unblemished shine on the hard cover and the stiffness of the spine. It was brand new, and she was going to be the first person to read it._

"_Have fun," Mrs. Virgo laughed as she went back to a crossword puzzle that she had been working on._

_Levy clutched the book close to her chest and started off towards the back of the library – there was a small nook in the fantasy section that held two nice and plush sitting chairs that were perfect for curling up in. Levy decided she'd bundle up with her new book and just read for the rest of the day – it was the weekend, so why not?_

_But as she turned the corner, she realized that her special spot was occupied. Sure there were two chairs, but a tall blonde boy was sitting in her _special_ one – the one that was situated just under a window that let lots of light in._

_She looked closer at the invader of her territory and realized that it was the new boy in her class – Laxus – who'd just started going there that year. He was just staring out the window, with an oddly hollow look in his eye. He looked upset…or maybe just lonely, but she couldn't quite tell._

_She shrugged her shoulders and decided that she'd just sit in the other fluffy chair and do her reading there. She hadn't yet said a word to the guy – mostly because he was always surrounded by the popular kids – so she figured she wouldn't bother him unless she had to._

_As she neared the empty chair, his head snapped up, finally realizing that she was there, "Oh – uh, hi."_

_She gave a polite smile, "Hey – I was just going to read," she said pointing to the empty chair, "I'm pretty quiet so I shouldn't bother you."_

"_That's fine…you're in my class, right?" he asked, turning himself in his seat to face Levy._

_The petit girl nodded and introduced, "I'm Levy McGarden." She plopped herself down in her seat and immediately brought herself into her "reading" stance – which was basically Levy with her legs tucked against the rest of her body._

"_Laxus," he replied. He looked as if he were about to say more, but Levy was already flipping through pages and practically ignoring him._

_A small smile twitched the corners of his mouth upward as he watched the small girl's eyes become brighter the more she read._

_The two sat in silence for what was close to half an hour – though Levy felt as though it had only been a few minutes – when Laxus spoke, "So what're you reading?"_

_Her head snapped up and looked around, almost bewildered. "What?" she asked._

_Laxus laughed, "I asked what you're reading."_

_Levy smiled, "It's a collection of short stories by one of my favorite authors. He's not very well known, but I love every word he's written."_

_The blonde slouched in his seat, "I'm not much of a reader – I don't have the concentration."_

"_Oh, I love reading," Levy smiled wistfully down at the book, "The words can take me anywhere I want to go. It's a great way to escape from normal life and do something wonderful and adventurous…oh – sorry. That probably sounds crazy to you." She gave a nervous laugh and scratched at the armrest of her chair._

_Laxus gave a small laugh, "That's alright – that sounds pretty amazing actually."_

_Levy smiled, "It does to me too – but people tend to think I'm weird when I try to explain it. I'm not a writer myself, so words don't usually come easy to me." Levy looked over at him – and a curious thought came to her mind. "So what are you here for, if you're not reading?"_

_Laxus sighed and scratched at the back of his head, "I needed a break. It was quiet here and I figured I'd be alone."_

"_Oh," Levy breathed, "Sorry – I don't mind leaving, if you want."_

_The blonde boy shook his head, "No – that's okay. I don't actually like being alone, but I needed a break from everyone."_

_Levy smiled softly, "I know what you mean – sometimes this school can get a little crazy. Especially the people."_

_Laxus laughed and nodded, "That's an understatement – everyone here seems crazy. But at least now I can say I've met _one _relatively normal person." He gave her warm smile._

_Levy couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I'm not very normal either. I'm just quieter than everyone else and less willing to reveal my craziness."_

_Just then, almost frantic sounding footsteps came clipping through the library. Levy look up in time to see Evergreen come stalking into the fantasy section with flushed cheeks and a scowl on her lips. _

"_Eww – Laxus, what are you doing here? I've been looking all over for you! I wanted to show you some of Fiore before curfew starts."_

"_Oh, uh – I forgot," Laxus said unconvincingly. He flashed an almost dazzling smile at Evergreen, "Well, let's go then."_

_Ever grinned and flipped her long brown hair from one shoulder to the other. She raised an eyebrow at Levy, "Oh…_you're_ here too. I hope you haven't been boring my Laxus to death."_

_Levy laughed and shook her head at her annoying classmate, "Heaven forbid." Levy brought her book back up to her eyes, and looked for the paragraph that she left off at._

_She heard Evergreen's high-heeled footsteps start to leave, but was brought back out of her book by the sound of Laxus' voice. "So are you going to be here tomorrow too?" he asked, watching her with his round blue eyes._

"_Uh, yeah, probably. I usually keep myself cooped up in here for the weekends unless my friends drag me away."_

_Laxus smiled, "Good – I might need another break tomorrow." He gave her a small wave and left to follow the girl who'd been practically obsessed with him since he first got there._

_Levy's stomach felt oddly light, and as she went back to her book, she couldn't help but smile to herself._

* * *

><p><em>The next day, Levy came to the library, almost expecting Laxus to not show up because, really – he was probably the most popular guy in the school, despite being a new kid, and she was just a quiet nerd. She didn't think he actually meant to come back – but she had kind of hoped.<em>

_She was completely surprised to find that he was in the library before she even got there. That day, Levy didn't get the chance to read – she and Laxus just talked the entire day, only stopping when Jet and Droy came to get her for dinner because she'd skipped lunch._

_Her two best friends narrowed their eyes when they saw Laxus. They practically pried her out of her comfy chair and pulled her towards the cafeteria. "What was that about?" Droy asked with a glance behind him, as if expecting to see Laxus following them._

"_Was he bothering you?" Jet added._

_Levy shook her head, "Relax, guys – I was just talking with him. He's still new here, so be nice."_

_The two grumbled to themselves and Jet interjected, "I just don't like the guy."_

_Droy elbowed his friend in the side, "You're just jealous because Coach Gildarts picked him over you for the varsity spot."_

"_That's totally not it! I just…there's something off about the guy."_

_Levy shook her head at the two and led them into the noise polluted cafeteria, "Come on, guys – let's just get our food before everyone decides to finish it all."_

* * *

><p><em>So Levy's new routine usually included a little extra time in the library. She and Laxus would just talk for hours, and little by little Levy started to think of him as her friend. Still, Jet and Droy hadn't warmed up to him, but Levy wasn't worried. The three of them had been through a lot together, and they were just worried that she was going to start pulling away from them. She obviously wasn't going to let that happen – Jet and Droy were like her brothers. They'd become family, and she was never going to let that bond break – but she did hope that they'd come around eventually.<em>

"_Let's get out of the library today," Laxus said one afternoon a few weeks later._

_Levy raised an eyebrow at him, "You sure? Your other friends might think that it's weird."_

_He shrugged, "I don't care – we're friends, right?"_

_Levy smiled, "Of course. So where did you want to go?"_

"_Well you said you wanted to check out a bookstore in town, right? I don't mind going there." Laxus stood up from his seat – the one not beside the window – and stretched his arms._

_Levy nodded, "I have been meaning to check to see if they've got the next book in my _Alex Cross_ series…sure – lets go."_

_The two of them left the library and headed for the front entrance of the school. After signing out in the school's front office, they stepped out of the large glass doors. It was late October – almost Halloween – and the weather was crisp. The wind was refreshingly cold and the air tasted of maple and dried leaves. Levy loved the smell of autumn, and seeing all the wonderful colors that came with it._

_Laxus and Levy, almost through the gates of the campus, were stopped by one of Laxus' football friends. The bulky junior boy paid little attention to Levy as he asked the blonde about something the coach had said. Levy just watched as the two talked for a few minutes, noticing the changes in Laxus' behavior._

_She'd noticed it before, but it just seemed very obvious to her now. With his football friend, Laxus was louder and much more jocular – even the sound of his laugh was deeper – whereas with her, he was always more toned down and borderline sweet. She pondered the differences and noticed that every time she'd seen him with Evergreen he was ultimately flirty and purposefully ignorant of her bullying personality._

_As the two started off towards the book store a few blocks away, Levy looked up at him – more than anything she was curious as to why he was so different with everyone. Did he feel the need to be accepted by everyone? Was he uncomfortable with how he really was? Levy took a breath and decided she'd ask._

"_Can I ask you something?"_

_Laxus looked down at her with curious blue eyes, "Sure – as long as I get to ask you something too."_

_She nodded with a thin smile and quickly asked her question, "Why do you change your personality around different people? You act differently around each of your friends and…I was just wondering why?"_

_His face suddenly changed and his smile fell from his lips._

_She paled as she realized that was probably a bad question to ask someone, "Gah – sorry…I guess I shouldn't ask stuff like that…it's just that…I'm not mad or bothered by it. More like I just want you to know that it's okay to be yourself around me. I don't want you to feel like you have to be someone else just because I'm different from all your other friends."_

_His eyes flickered down to Levy, looking almost confused. He stared at her for a few seconds longer, as if trying to figure her out and then said, "I guess…I just don't like to let my guard down and I feel that if I'm not a certain way with certain people that I'll be…well I don't really know."_

_Levy gave his arm a comforting squeeze, "Just know that you don't have to pretend to be anything with me, alright?"_

_He gave her a small smile and nodded, "I'll try, then – but anyways, you owe me an answer."_

"_Ask away."_

_He stayed quiet for a moment, as if wondering what to ask, but she was pretty sure he already had a question in mind…she just wasn't expecting his actual question._

"_You're not…dating anyone, right? Because you hang out with Jet and Droy a lot, and…well, I just wanted to know."_

_Levy's was startled at the question for a moment – did he seriously think she was dating either Jet or Droy?_

_She quickly shook her head, "No – no I'm not dating anyone. Jet and Droy are like my brothers – that would just be weird." She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, "Besides…I'm not really the girlfriend type anyway."_

"_Why's that?"_

_She sighed, "Well – I just wouldn't know what to do…I mean, I've read about it so much in all of my books, but…Gah that sounded weird."_

_Laxus looked down at her with a funny smile, "Hey, if I'm supposed to be myself around you, you can be yourself around me. Being weird isn't a bad thing – it just makes you more interesting."_

_Levy gave a nervous laugh, "Thanks – I'm just awkward when it comes to that kinda stuff."_

"_Everyone's like that at first, but if you really like someone, it will just come naturally." Laxus came to a stop as they finally reached the bookstore. "Now," he started to change the subject off of such personal things, "What book are we looking for"_

_Levy smiled, glad to be back in her area of expertise, "Hmm, well it should be in the new releases section if they have it…if not, I'd probably just browse around for a bit."_

_Laxus hummed as he opened the door for the both of them, "Oh, and since we're in town, I need to look for a costume. That Halloween party is coming up on Saturday."_

_Levy nodded, "Yeah, we could do that – I've already got mine planned out." Levy laughed to herself as she thought of her cheap costume that she'd thrown together a few days ago, "I'm too cheap to buy one, but I'll help you pick one out."_

"_Deal," Laxus laughed, as the door swung slowly closed behind them._

* * *

><p><em>The rest of that week went by extremely fast – but little did Levy know that she had nothing to look forward too.<em>

_It was finally Saturday, Halloween night. The school was decorated in cotton-ball spider webs, fake zombies rising from the ground all over the school, construction paper bats hanging from low ceilings, normal paintings replaced by creepy ones of vampires with eyes that seemed to follow you no matter where in the room you were, and orange streamers hanging from every available vantage point. Most of the decorations were put up by the staff, who usually went all out for the holidays because they were oftentimes just as crazy as the rest of the student population._

_Levy was heading for the cafeteria where she was going to meet up with Jet and Droy and maybe chat for a little bit with Mirajane, but suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned to see who it was and smiled when she saw Laxus taking long strides towards her. She gave him a small wave as he stopped right next to her, but as she opened her mouth to say hello, he had already moved._

_Suddenly, he was leaning over and his hand was beneath her chin, tilting her head upwards. Levy was stunned, completely confused about what was happening. His soft lips met with hers, and she felt her stomach do flips. Her mind became suddenly paralyzed, leaving her gut instinct to take control._

_She kissed back for all of a couple seconds before her mind finally unfroze itself and commanded her to stop. Her hand shot out and pushed against his rather muscular chest. Their lips tore apart, and Levy stood in a daze of disbelief._

"_Laxus…wha-?" she stammered, feeling her cheeks heat up about a thousand degrees. Her mind may not have been processing what had just happened, but her body had sure figured it out._

_A smile – one that Levy had never seen before – raised the corners of his lips, which she now knew were as soft as they always appeared. His hand still lingered beneath her chin, and slowly slid up to cup the side of her face. His thumb ran over her red-tinted cheek, all the while, his odd smile never left his face._

_Levy was completely frozen. That smile on his lips chilled her to the bone. Her mind was too stunned to string together her thoughts into complete sentences._

_Laxus let out a small laugh, almost humorless, and let his hand drop. He side stepped the frozen girl and said through his strange smile, "See you at the party."_

_The blue-haired girl just listened as his footsteps echoed steadily down the hallway. Eventually they disappeared with a fluctuation of cafeteria noise, leaving Levy alone with her confused thoughts and emotions._

"_What just happened?" she whispered slowly to herself. Her mind went through all the facts, trying to find a legitimate excuse for what Laxus just did…_

He just came out of nowhere and kissed me…He just stole my first kiss and didn't even…what? Explain, maybe? And then he just walked away with that odd smile…

_How was she supposed to feel about that? Levy guessed that anger was a reasonable response – but she didn't feel angry at him. She probably should have been upset or flustered or nervous, but she was none of those things._

Aren't first kisses supposed to be romantic?_ She thought to herself, _Because that's how they always are in the books…wait, so does that mean I want him to be romantic?

_Levy shook her head – she remembered feeling an odd sensation in her stomach, but wasn't sure what that meant._

_Another question came to her mind…_

_Did she want him to do it again?_

_Her fingers came to her lips – she needed to think. Maybe that was why he did it…maybe he wanted her to think about it before he said anything…maybe it was some sort of weird test…_

_Levy's feet spun around and headed towards the cafeteria. No lips interrupted her this time, and as she quietly went down the serving line, her thoughts wandered off on their own._

_Maybe he was trying to say that he liked her without actually saying anything…_

_She pursued her lips – that was possible, she guessed, but she didn't think it was likely. He was the most popular kid in their class – even all the seniors seemed to like him – while she was just a bookish girl who had a very small circle of friends. It seemed very unlikely to her that he felt more than friendship with her…_

_So why did he just kiss her?_

"_Earth to Levy – are you okay?" Droy's voice floated to her from a faraway place._

_She snapped back into reality to find that she was now sitting across a lunch table from Jet and Droy with a close to empty dinner tray in front of her. She glanced down at a measly apple and a small serving of teriyaki rice. "Oh," she started, "Sorry – I guess I'm a little out of it."_

"_Your face is kinda red – you're not sick, are you?" Jet asked with wide and concerned eyes._

_Levy shook her head, "I hope not – Mira was looking forward to showing off all her party decorations tonight."_

"_So what are you going as?" Droy asked, "I was cheap and didn't want to buy an actual costume, so I was thinking of just being a Zombie Soccer player." He practiced a "Zombie" face for jet and Levy, which made Jet cough up some of his food._

_The two of them immediately dissolved into a discussion over whether or not a real zombie actually sticks its tongue out the way Droy had depicted. Levy gave a small laugh at the two, but felt her mind trying to sink back into itself._

"_Well, isn't this a riveting conversation," an un-amused voice said from Levy's side._

_Levy turned in time to see Mirajane setting her food tray down on the table beside Levy. "Hey Mira."_

"_Levy," the platinum blonde greeted. A fiendish smile broke out across her lips, "Sooo, you forgot to mention that you've been talking to that hunky new guy. I had to find out from Evergreen, of all people."_

_Levy felt a brick hit the bottom of her stomach. She gave a nervous laugh and pushed some of her rice around her plate, "It's not a big deal. We just hang out – we're friends." At least, that's what Levy had thought until about five minutes ago…_

"_Uh-huh, suuure. I've said it before – girls and guys can't be _just_ friends." Mira smirked before taking a bite of peas._

_Levy looked at her incredulously, "That's ridiculous, Mira – Jet and Droy are my best friends, and they're both guys."_

_Mira gave an analytical look at the mentioned boys across from them – who now seemed very interested in this topic – and sighed, "That's exactly my point."_

_Levy shook her head, "You're making no sense."_

_Mira rolled her eyes and glanced again at the two boys, "She's so oblivious."_

_Both Jet and Droy started blushing profusely – but of course, Levy wasn't paying much attention. She was shaking her head at her plate, "You're confusing me even more, Mira." Levy sighed and started to stand up, "I'm gonna see if I can take a small nap before the party starts – I'm kinda tired. Anyways, I'll see you guys at eight."_

_Levy gave a smile to the sitting trio and started off towards the girl's dormitories._

* * *

><p><em>Music was bouncing off the walls of the gym, where the Halloween Party was being held. The decoration crew had really gone all out – the whole place looked like a haunted warehouse. It was extremely creepy looking and perfect for Halloween.<em>

_Levy tapped her foot to the music as she tried to see above the massive crowd of dancing students. She had been a little late getting there, but didn't think that would be too much of a problem. It had given her more time to think about the whole ordeal with Laxus, and she finally figured out what she was going to say to him once she found him._

_Finally she spotted her two friend's tall outlines sticking out a little ways away from the punch table and she started to worm her way through the crowd to get there. Droy had indeed dressed as a Zombie Soccer player – he had ripped up an old jersey of his and smeared what appeared to be red food coloring onto it, while decorating his face with pasty white makeup and dark circles around his eyes – and Jet came as a WWE wrestler, wearing fake muscles beneath a white T-shirt, black gym shorts, and a fake Championship belt around his waist. She grabbed onto their arms in an attempt to scare them, but it didn't do much._

_They both laughed at her costume._

"_What?"_

_Jet shook his head, still fighting off a laugh, "I don't know – I just can't tell what you're supposed to be."_

"_I'm a witch! Come on, I'm wearing the pointy black hat!" She defended._

"_Yeah, but you're just wearing a black clothes with it…don't witches wear robes or something?" Droy said with a playful flick of her hat._

_Levy looked down at herself with a sigh. Besides the witches hat, she was wearing a plain black skirt that came a little above her knees and a black V-neck shirt. "Well, I was cheap this year too. Besides, dancing in a robe would probably get annoying."_

_The guys shook their heads at her and then pulled her out onto the dance floor._

_None of the three were any good at dancing, so they just had fun making fools of themselves. They danced like idiots and old people, and had a blast doing so. In fact, Levy actually had a really fun night. Mira – who had dressed up as a fairy in honor of the school mascot – eventually met up with her and stole her away from the guys, who said they were gonna skip out and hang out with a few other guys in the student lobby._

_They split up, and after Levy provided Mira an ear for her latest gossip and awed at her wonderful decorating handiwork, they too decided to leave._

_But Levy had one more person to see._

_She'd noticed him a few times that night, but he had always been surrounded by Evergreen. She felt that she was nervous about what she was going to say, but knew that she had to go through with it. If she didn't, things between them might get blurry, and she didn't want that._

_Finally, Levy noticed his blonde head across the room, as well as his tacky Prince Charming costume. For once he wasn't surrounded by people. Levy figured he must have shaken them somehow, and decided that now as her best chance. She quickly flitted across the room, careful to dodge the people who hadn't yet given up dancing._

_He was about to push open a door that would lead to the boy's locker rooms when she managed to grab onto his wrist._

"_Sorry Ever, I just needed," but as he turned around he realized that it wasn't Evergreen he was talking to, "Oh – Levy." He smiled as he said her name – his usual smile. The warm and gentle one that Levy was used to._

_Levy gave a small smile in return, "Hey…we need to talk."_

_He nodded, not letting his warm smile fade, and held onto Levy's wrist. "This way," he said as he pulled her through the door to the boy's locker room._

_He flipped one of the light switches on, causing one of the two light panels to lighten up without making the room blindingly bright. He pulled Levy a little ways into the room and then let go of her hand._

_Fearing that she'd not be able to speak if she waited, Levy quickly asked, "Why did you kiss me, Laxus?"_

_His smile loosened a bit as he heard her words. He ran a hand through his hair and took a small step closer to her. He let out a breath and answered, "You wanted me to be myself around you…well, that's me. I wanted to kiss you, so I did."_

_Levy creased her eyebrows – this was not going how she imagined it. _

_She sighed and came closer to him. She placed a hand on his arm and looked up into his bright blue eyes, "Laxus – I really do want you to be yourself around me…but, I really don't feel like that about you. I like being your friend, but I think that's all we should be."_

_He stared down at her with a blank face. He was silent for a minute, as if processing her words – and then he broke out into that strange smile again. That smile sent a shiver down Levy's spine, but she wouldn't allow herself to freeze this time. She needed to be clear with him, or else she'd just be leading him on or making it worse. _

"_You are the most interesting person at this school – did you know that?" he asked through that borderline scary grin._

"_What?"_

_He nodded and grabbed her hand that had been resting on his forearm. He squeezed it tight and kept it in his large hand, "Everyone seems to want something from me, but you…you don't and I don't understand it."_

_Levy had no idea what to say. Things were definitely turning out way different than she'd imagined. She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he wouldn't let go._

"_You want me to be myself, right? Then I'll tell you something about me…when I want something, I get it. I don't mind working for it a bit, or being patient – but with you, I can see that isn't going to work. You make no sense to me, and that drives me crazy."_

_Levy gulped audibly. She didn't like this. That smile of his had crossed over the borderline and was now in the scary zone. She felt her heart start to beat with fear._

_He came closer to her, forcing her to back up, "But what really drives me crazy is how much I want you. I've never felt so…so addicted to someone before – and that kiss today proved that I need you."_

"_You're scaring me, Laxus…I – you should let me go," Levy stammered, pulling once again on her constricted hand._

_He just shook his head and continued his strange speech, "When I want something, I get it," He pushed her tightly immobilized hand above her head and into the lockers behind her, forcing her back against the cold metal, "Even if that means I have to take it for myself."_

_Levy's eyes widened as he pinned her to the lockers with his other hand coming to her neck and one of his knees leaning against the patch of locker between her legs._

_His lips came to hers, but this time, her body didn't respond by kissing back. A grunt of fear and displeasure managed to escape from her throat, but she only felt his lips smile against hers as he kept kissing._

_At first she tried to fight. She squirmed and tried to thrash her body about – but in the end she was just too small to do much, especially compared to his larger and leaner muscles. Her free hand pushed constantly on his chest to try to get him to back away, but again, her arms were like wet noodles compared to his, and she couldn't do much damage._

_Eventually his lips trailed down to her neck._

_She took advantage of this and let out a scream for help._

_Laxus only laughed and lifted his head from her neck, "The music is much too loud for anyone to hear you – but if you keep screaming like that it might get on my nerves."_

_She felt a lump rise in her throat and cut off her calls for help._

_Levy was close to tears. Was this really happening to her? She felt as though this were some kind of cruel prank or joke. Surely this couldn't be happening to her for real right? Laxus had never struck her as this type of person…she thought that, despite having multiple personalities depending on who he was with, he was sweet and caring. He had seemed so genuine with her…_

_But she guessed he had a lot of practice._

_Suddenly his hand, which had been resting motionlessly on her shoulder until now, lifted from her shoulder and came to rest on her hip. He gave a small laugh as her body went cold. His fingers were tugging at the elastic of her skirt._

"_Please – just let me go, Laxus…don't-don't do this," she pleaded with a weak voice._

"_Shhh – it's okay, Levy," his hand came from her waist to cup her cheek, "You don't have to be scared."_

_She shook her head and kept up with her muttered pleadings. She was terrified and had no idea what to do. Her logical mind was too scared to think. Tears broke through at this moment, and then suddenly, there was pain._

_A fist to the side of the head._

_Had he just hit her?_

_She felt dizzy now – the world was spinning._

_She felt phantom hands – Laxus' hands – picking her up and carrying her somewhere. Levy managed to open her eyes and saw that Laxus was sitting her down on the shallow counter that lined one of the locker room walls. She guessed it was used to put gym bags and things of that nature, but her mind stopped pondering it with his lips came back down on her neck._

_While he was sucking at her neck, his right hand held her lower back to keep her upright, while his left seemed to crawl up her inner thigh._

_She let out a sobbing sound from her throat, but it came out weak and pitiful. She heard his laugh as his hand crawled higher and higher up her leg and well beneath her black skirt._

_His hands had once looked warm and comforting, but now they were cold and sickening. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as her mind finally understood what was going to happen to her._

_It was a small and terrible word, but she couldn't let herself think it._

_Levy felt that if she finally thought that four-letter word clearly, it would make this all real. If she thought that word, she'd probably start crying for real – and that would probably earn her another hit to the head._

_She grimaced at his touch – she felt her lower stomach heave as if she were about to throw up. His fingers were cold, freezing her from the inside out._

_Levy wondered vaguely if she should try to scream again – but then realized that he had been right – the music was much too loud. She could hear it pounding against the walls._

_But suddenly, it got much louder._

_Levy's eyes snapped open – for she'd had them clenched shut in an attempt to put her mind anywhere else but here. The locker room door was open, and a slender outline was standing in the entryway._

_It was Evergreen._

_She stood there, taking in the scene. It was hard to tell what Evergreen was thinking, but all Levy knew was that this was a miracle._

_Levy was sure that the tear streaks from her eyes were visible in the half-light of the locker room, but apparently, Evergreen was only seeing Laxus._

"_What the hell are you two doing?" she asked, letting her hands come to her hips._

_Laxus sighed and pulled away from Levy's neck, "It's exactly what it looks like."_

_Evergreen stalked over towards them, "Back off, McGarden. He's mine."_

_Laxus only gave an amused laugh as he pulled his hand shamelessly from beneath Levy's skirt, "You're so possessive, Ever."_

_Evergreen huffed and grabbed one of his arms. She started to pull him away and as she did so she spat poisonously, "You better watch out, bookworm."_

"_Later Levy," Laxus grinned as he let Evergreen pull him out of the room._

_Levy could do nothing but sit there._

_The venomous words of Evergreen meant nothing to her – she didn't care, because, however inadvertently, the queen bee of their class had saved her from something terrible._

_Still sitting there on the counter in the boy's locker room, Levy curled up into a ball and broke down crying._

* * *

><p>Levy stared at the wall and finished up her sad secret, "I didn't come out of my room for a week after that. I told everyone I was sick and just cried for almost a week straight…I…I felt so hopeless. That was what scared me the most. I was weak against him – could do nothing to save myself." She shook her head and wiped at one of her eyes. She'd been talking for at least two hours now – Gajeel had been right. Once she started, it was hard to stop. Even when it got to the bad parts she felt that she had to finish it all the way through.<p>

She had avoided looking at the boy sitting barely two feet away from her – mostly because a lot of what she talked about was awkward, but it was also partly because she was still scared at how he would react to hearing all of that.

Levy shook her head again, "I think what scared me the most was the fact that I thought I knew him…I thought I was friends with him, and he ended up being…being like that underneath it all. I was bad at making new friends before, but now I'm constantly afraid that I'll make another mistake like that again."

Gajeel spoke for the first time since she started her story. His voice was tense and slightly angry sounding, "It's not your fault – dammit, don't you dare blame yourself for that."

Her head shot up and she watched him with her misty eyes.

He was gripping the corners of the chair-back so tightly that his knuckles were turning white, despite his darker skin tone. His cheek was twitching as he stared with angry dark eyes at Levy, "That bastard is the only person to blame." He pinched the bridge of his nose, in an attempt to calm himself down. After a few breaths he reopened his eyes and looked back up at her, "Why the hell didn't you say anything before now? You have a crap load of people who'd help you, so why did you wait for two years to say anything?"

Levy bit her lip – which was a mistake considering that she had a bad bruise on it, "I couldn't tell…at first, I fought really hard to tell someone, but I just couldn't. I was so scared…I saw his face every time I closed my eyes. Every time I tried to tell someone, his face would pop into my mind. His terrible smile…I couldn't do it…and then, after a while I realized that he started to completely ignore me and leave me alone…I didn't understand it, but I figured that I would be okay if I tried to ignore it too."

Gajeel shook his head at the petit girl, "Fucking bastard." He ran his hands through his mane of black and messy hair and stood up from the chair. He could see the bags forming under Levy's eyes. She needed some sleep, and frankly, so did he. "We're not finished talking yet, but you need some sleep."

She allowed herself a small smile but quickly let it fade. She watched Gajeel head for the door but stopped him, "Um...Gajeel?"

He turned slightly, "Yeah?"

She let out a strangled sigh, "I, uh…I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I'm alone…do you think you could stay – just until I fall asleep, I promise!" Levy sat cross-legged, with her hands in her lap. She was wringing them furiously to hopefully lessen the embarrassment of what she was asking the school "bad boy" to do – she hated to ask for help, and he'd done so much for her already…

"Gah – I guess. But you better fall asleep fast because I'm damn tired." Gajeel crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall beside the door.

Levy let herself relax a bit, "Thanks – and I'm sorry. As long as I know that I'm not alone, I think I'll be able to fall asleep fast."

Gajeel nodded and waited for her to get beneath her blankets before flipping off the light. He slid down the wall and found a comfortable position to wait in.

_As soon as I hear her breaths even out, I'm gone_, he thought to himself.

Except by the time Levy fell asleep, Gajeel was already snoring with his head slouched against his shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phew! And can you believe i wrote that all in a day? I sure can't lol Hopefully that answers all the main questions, and hopefully i got psycho Laxus' personality written right - I'm a little worried that I didn't explain properly or something...well if you have any problems with it, tell me - I'd be super grateful.**

**Also would like to say THANK-YOU x infinity to all of you wonderful people who have reviewed ~ you guys completely make my day, and keep me excited to write this story. **

**xD Hope you liked it~!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey all~! Long time no see!...well, that's my fault really. Once again this story kinda got put on the back-burner, but fear not! I have not abandoned this story! I figured I needed to give you guys an update to keep you from cursing my scatterbrained-ness lol**

**Anywho, thanks for all the wonderful reviews i've gotten for this so far (And keep them coming lol joking, joking), and here's the chapter i've made you wait for (Again, sorry about that haha)**

**Chapter 9**

Two sets of breathing disrupted the morning silence of the small bedroom. One set was soft and almost inaudible, while the other was rough and accompanied by occasional snores. Levy, the owner of the light breaths, slept soundly in her bed, curled up beneath her light green comforter, while Gajeel, the source of the louder and rougher sleep sounds, was sleeping in a slumped position beside the door. His head had fallen to rest on his breast bone, his arms were now crossed loosely in his lap, and his legs were stretched out, twitching every so often as he slept.

The scene was rather peaceful – at least, it _was_ until the door swung open and Mirajane barged into the room.

"Come on Levy – wake up!" Mira called. She went straight to Levy's bedside and started pulling off her blanket.

Levy groaned and grabbed onto the edge of her comforter to keep it situated over her tired body, "No, Mira – I'm too tired."

"I'm sure you are – but Master made French toast for breakfast and I want to actually eat some before the guys get there and inhale it all."

"Mira, I –" but Levy was interrupted by a loud and rough snore. She felt her heart rate speed up as she noticed Gajeel's sleeping figure by the doorway.

He hadn't left…

For a moment, Levy hoped that maybe Mirajane hadn't heard it…but Levy seemed to have the worst luck, as of late. Mira's head turned slowly, and when she saw Gajeel's sleeping body on the floor across the room, her jaw hung open and the corners of her mouth twitched in indecision. She didn't know whether to look shocked, or smile at this new development. Mira's head came slowly back to her blue-haired friend with an open mouthed smile.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," she said quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping delinquent.

Levy's face reddened with embarrassment as she imagined what Mirajane was probably imagining. She sat bolt upright in her bed and stammered, "Whatever you're thinking, just stop for a minute…it's really not…"

Mira's smile only widened, "So you're telling me that a guy – Gajeel, no less – spent the night in your room, but nothing's going on?"

"Exactly…err, well, it sounds kinda suspicious when you say it like that – but I promise you're misunderstanding!" Levy sighed and sent an exasperated sigh over to Gajeel – he must have fallen asleep while waiting for her to do the same. She cursed herself. This was all because she'd been selfish and asked him to stay while she fell asleep.

Mira turned on her heels and started towards the boy.

"Wait!" Levy whispered harshly, not wanting to wake up the sleeping boy, "Mira, what are you doing?!"

She gave a fiendish laugh and came to a stop between Gajeel's splayed legs. Mirajane stared at him for a minute as if pondering how exactly she was going to carry out her evil plan, and finally gave a satisfied nod to herself.

Her hand reached out and poked his cheek, "Gaje~eel! Wake up~!" Her voice crooned sweetly.

He jerked himself awake in response to being suddenly prodded on the face. He stared with sleep stained eyes at the platinum blonde for a few moments before his scowl could set in. "Damn…you better have a good reason for waking me up demon. I'm fucking tired."

Mira smile innocently, "Oh, well, it might not be a _huge_ deal, but I was sort of wondering _why_ you were sleeping in Levy's room…"

Realization finally caught up to him. He looked around the room, figuring out that he wasn't actually in his own dorm, but in Levy's…

"Shit…goddamnit, I feel asleep!" He suddenly pushed himself up from the floor and got to his feet. Mira's words were completely confirmed when he noticed a red-faced Levy sitting up in her bed, with her blankets trapped in a nervous death grip.

"So," Mira said with her cloyingly sweet voice, "Would you like to explain this to me?"

Gajeel groaned and shook his head, "Actually no – I'm going to go sleep in my own bed now." He glanced quickly at Levy, "Go back to bed too – we'll finish talking later."

The blue-haired girl gave a quick nod without meeting his eye and began to fidget with her fingers.

Mira looked between them but as Gajeel opened the door to leave, she decided to follow him. She sent a quick smile at Levy, "I'm not done with you either…now – Gajeel! Hold on a minute!"

Gajeel ignored her as he walked quickly through the girl's dormitory hallway. He hoped that he wouldn't run into any of the other girls on his way out – having Mira know was bad enough, but he didn't need the whole group knowing he'd accidentally spent the night in Levy's room.

"Gajeel!" Mira quickly jogged to his side, "Are you seriously gonna leave without explaining? I have quite a vivid imagination and don't mind coming up with my own version of what happened last night." The giddy smile in her voice was completely obvious, "If you don't tell me what's going on, I'll have to improvise…"

He let out a frustrated sigh but answered, "We were just talking."

"About what?"

He glared at her, "None of your business."

"Come on Gajeel! If you don't put out any details, I'm going to think 'talking' is just a cover for something much more…intimate."

He practically growled at the blonde, "Say what you want demon, but that's all we did. I stayed because she was scared to be alone. Now drop it, and let me go back to my room."

Mira sighed, realizing that she was going to get nothing out of the currently stud-less boy, "Fine – don't tell me – but at least tell me if this has something to do with why you wanted to beat up Laxus."

He stopped suddenly but didn't turn to face the platinum blonde, "I'm done talking – just don't mention that fucking bastard's name to the bookworm, and don't let her go anywhere by herself…fuck, just leave it for now."

Mira felt her smile falter.

His voice sounded much angrier than usual, just as it had last night. While normally Gajeel's voice sent out an angry vibe that said "Get lost, I don't like you", at the moment, it seemed to say something more along the lines of "I'll murder you with a spoon if you don't leave me alone". This was a much more serious and terrifying anger.

Mirajane stood there staring at him. "Tell me what's going on – why was Levy scared to be alone?" she asked, thinking back to Gajeel's pervious statement, "What's this got to do with Laxus."

Gajeel's fists were clenching at his sides, "Seriously, demon – if I don't get to my room and sleep off this anger, the number of people at this damned school is going to start dropping."

Without waiting for Mira to reply or ask any more questions, Gajeel turned back around and vanished out of the girl's dormitory hallway and into the lobby.

Mira stood staring at the door as it swung shut behind him.

She was more curious now than ever before, but this was a different curiosity. Normally she was curious because she liked to know the little secrets about "who liked who" and other fluffy stuff like that, but at the moment, she was curious because this was Levy they were talking about – one of her best friends.

If Levy was in trouble, or having a problem, she should know about it. Not because she saw this as another secret to collect, but because Levy was her friend. From what Gajeel was saying, this sounded like a serious matter. He had said that Levy was scared to be alone…

How could that be possible? Levy usually chose to be alone, unless it was Jet or Droy with her. If Levy was now afraid of something that she usually preferred, this had to be something serious.

Mirajane bit at her lip and then turned around. She walked briskly through the hallway, back towards Levy's room. She made a quick turn and then pushed through Levy's cracked door.

The blue-haired girl was now standing beside her bed, pulling on a pair of jeans. She looked up at Mira and finished getting dressed in a fluster. "You said there was French toast?" she asked weakly to try to divert the subject she knew was coming.

Mira shut the door behind her and leaned against it. She folded her arms across her chest and watched Levy with sharp eyes. The small girl looked frailer than normal, her skin paler. Granted, Levy was never very tan and always looked vaguely weak, but Mira realized that this frailty was different somehow. More deep-seated than usual.

"I'm not letting you through until you tell me what's going on, Levy…"

Levy's large brown eyes stared at Mira, "I told you – there's nothing going on between me and Gajeel."

Mira shook her head, "I'm not talking about that at the moment, though I still don't entirely believe your claim…tell me what's going on with you. Why are you scared? Why did Gajeel tell me not to let you be alone?" Mira also wanted to ask what any of this had to do with the ever popular Laxus, but refrained as she remembered the turbulent rage in Gajeel's voice as he ordered her not to mention him to Levy.

Levy wrung her hands together, "He said that?"

Mira nodded, but said nothing. She was going to get some answers, even if it meant the two of them had to stay in Levy's room for the whole day.

Levy swallowed loud enough for the platinum blonde to hear, and then sat down on the edge of her bed. She hung her head, not wanting to look at her friend, "Please don't make me tell you, Mira…I…I don't think I can. I already went through it last night with Gajeel because he forced it out of me after he saw…" but Levy dropped her sentence.

Mira's brows creased, "Saw what?

"Please, Mira, don't."

"I am your friend – I may be a little obsessed with finding out secrets, but even I can see that this is different. This is serious, and it looks to me like you're suffering. So just tell me, Levy – what did Gajeel see? What happened last night?"

Levy gave a sad sigh, "He saw me running away f…from Laxus." Her voice caught on the blonde's name and a strange flash of fear flickered across levy's wide brown eyes.

Mira's brows creased further, "Running from? So, he was chasing you?"

Levy nodded and lifted her head a little, "Gajeel was able to get me away from him after…well, he gave me this." Levy pointed to her bruised lip.

"Laxus bruised your lip? But then…the teeth marks…?"

Levy nodded and then buried her face in her hands, "He came after me last night…again…I thought that if I kept it a secret, he'd leave me alone, but Mira, he isn't."

Mira felt frozen. Shocked into stillness. Her body remained stiff and motionless against the door as her mind exploded with confused thoughts and reactions.

_Did she say "Again"? Does "Come after her" really mean what I think it means? Did Laxus – the popular, funny, handsome jock beloved by the whole Magnolia Population – really try to…to hurt Levy like that? How the hell does something like this happen? Why did she think keeping something like this a secret was the smart thing?_

"Gajeel noticed how I reacted to Laxus – that I would flinch even with someone brought up his name – and last night finally convinced me to tell him everything. I…I can't say it all again, but last night wasn't the first time he tried to…ugh I can't even say it." Levy's voice was getting shaky as she kept her face hidden in her palms.

Finally Mira was able to move again, and came to sit beside Levy on her bed. She still had no idea what to say, but let her body to the talking. Mira wrapped her arms over Levy's small shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

At this point, all the bundled up emotions inside of the petit girl finally exploded, and Levy started to cry in Mira's arms.

"When?" Mira said with an uncharacteristically stoic voice, "When did this start?"

Levy calmed her tears and answered with a watery voice, "Sophomore year…after we split up at the Halloween party."

A brick hit the bottom of Mirajane's stomach.

Two years.

This traumatic thing with Laxus had happened two years ago. Levy had been keeping all these destructive emotions inside her for two years…and Mirajane hadn't noticed. Mira hadn't noticed that Levy had started to keep to herself more and more often. Mira hadn't noticed that the girl had been secretly afraid for her well-being for the past two years. Mira hadn't noticed that her so-called best friend had been feeling so badly for so long.

A tear ran down Mira's cheek – what kind of a friend was she if she couldn't see when others close to her were hurting?

"I'm sorry Levy…I'm sorry I didn't notice. You were in pain and I didn't even…"

Levy pulled her tear stained face off of her friend's shoulder and looked at her with red eyes. She shook her head, "No – you couldn't have known. I kept it a secret from everyone – I didn't even let Jet or Droy see that something was wrong."

Mira wiped away her tears as Levy did the same. "Why? Why is Laxus doing this to you? How has he been able to fool everyone for all this time?"

Levy shook her head, "The real him isn't like what everyone thinks. Back when I…when I was friends with him, I told him to just be himself…he would act differently around different groups of people so I thought it was because he was insecure about himself, but really, he was just trying to hide from everyone what he is truly like."

"And…has he actually…?" Mira found she couldn't bring herself to say the exact word. Other options like 'sexually assault' and 'forced himself on her' still seemed too real. How could something like this happen? Sure you would hear about things like this happening on the news in other places around the world, but it couldn't happen here at Magnolia Academy, right?

"No," Levy said as she looked to her hands, "But I…I think he means to."

The two girls sat there in silence, both pondering the same question.

What the hell were they supposed to do now?

"Should we tell the police? Or maybe Makarov first – Master would probably know how to deal with the –"

"No," Levy interrupted, "I don't think I can tell Master yet – and as for the police, they'll probably need some sort of evidence…it's hard to prove something like that. I…I really don't know what to do, but I want to wait until I can talk to Gajeel again."

Mirajane sighed and grabbed Levy's hand, "But is it really okay not to tell someone about this? What if Laxus comes after you again – what if we don't do something until it's too late?"

Levy shook her head, "I don't know but…please don't do anything yet, Mira. If Laxus thinks I'm going to tell Makarov or some other adult, I don't know what he'll do…I don't understand him…nothing he does makes sense to me."

"Well, this isn't just your problem anymore, Levy," Mira said as she squeezed her friend's hand in her own, "I got involved because I want to help you – I have no one to blame but myself if I get hurt. I'm sure Gajeel feels the same…it's quite interesting. He seemed very protective of you when I was questioning him earlier." Mira smiled one of her signature fiendish smiles to help change the mood back into something a little less heavy and disturbing.

Levy smiled, but her cheeks blushed just a tiny bit, "Please not that again. If he seems that way, it's only because of the situation – he's just helping me."

"Hmm, well, I'll drop it for now, but I'm not abandoning my theory."

Levy gave a small laugh and stood up from her bed, "I'm going to wash my face, and then let's go see about getting some French toast…hopefully there's still some left because I'm starving."

Mira watched Levy disappear into the small bathroom that her dorm shared with the one to their left. Mira's heart felt a little heavier now that she had taken a part of this horrible burden from Levy, but as she watched her friend, she could tell that the blue-haired girl could breathe a little easier now that she didn't have to bear the secret alone anymore.

* * *

><p>The girls went and got breakfast and of course, the blonde devil was in the center of everyone, talking and joking and smiling with everyone as if nothing had happened the previous night – as if he hadn't just tried to corner Levy in a dark room only a twelve or so hours ago. Levy fought back her urge to start shaking when the blonde's blue eyes suddenly locked onto her.<p>

Laxus' smile for a brief second was that of his inner, horrible self, but it quickly disappeared before anyone but Levy could see it. "Morning Mira, Levy," He greeted with his faux-smile and a quick wave of his hand.

Others like Elfman and Cana sent their "Good Mornings" to the two newcomers as well.

Levy gave a small smile in the general direction of the others and gave the greeting back. She glanced over at Mira, and found that she was intently staring forward with narrowed eyes.

The dining room went back to quite morning conversations about nothing in particular, and the two girls went to the counter to get their food. Mira sent a searching look over to her blue-haired friend, "How have you been able to stand this?" she whispered angrily. "I can't even look at him…"

Levy just shook her head. Truthfully, she had just adapted. She learned to live with the fear that always accompanied her whenever the popular blonde was around. Levy had just gotten used to feeling alone, and afraid. It wasn't really something she could explain to Mira – it was just something that happened. "Please Mira, just try to act like normal…I don't want him to know that I've told you." She sent a pleading look towards her friend as she put a piece of French toast onto her plate.

Mirajane bit down on her lip, "I'm trying – really…I just…"

Levy gave a small nod. She knew this was something Mirajane – who had always had a strong and argumentative personality – wouldn't be able to hold in for long. Usually when Mira had a problem with someone, she'd vocalize it and make it everyone's problem as well. She wasn't the kind to keep her troubles to herself, or to let those who've wronged her get away with it unscathed.

Levy just hoped Mira would be able to keep her head – this was much more serious than trivial high school skirmishes and rivalries. This wasn't something she could just go accusing in front of the whole student body.

Mira let out a forced breath and started towards the table to sit in the two empty seats between Cana and Sherry. The group of breakfasters carried on with their tired conversations. Cana turned to Mira to rag on the scavenger hunt some more, which had been named by everyone "The Worst Game Idea Ever", to which Mira went about her usual antics of defending her failed attempt to stir up some romance amongst her fellow Holiday-Stayers. Levy noticed that she seemed to be doing pretty well, except for occasional squinty-eyed glances at Laxus, who was paying attention to a football story Bixlow was telling and letting Evergreen place herself on his lap.

People started trickling out of the dining room until it was just Mira, Levy, Cana and Elfman. Everyone else had gone to see Master Makarov about letting them head out into town, while the small group stayed in the dining room because they were too tired or lazy to do much else.

Elfman groaned and sprawled himself out on a couple different chairs, "I shouldn't have eaten that seventh piece of French toast."

Mira rolled her eyes at her younger brother, "So why'd you eat so much?"

"A man doesn't back down from a challenge!" he said dramatically while randomly pumping a fist into the air.

Cana tapped his stomach – which was hanging down from two of the chairs that were holding his body up – with her foot. "Not everything has to be a challenge. Can't breakfast just be breakfast?"

Elfman gave a condescending laugh, "You just don't understand, woman."

Cana was about to reply when one of the doors swung loudly open and loud footsteps started trudging through into the room. A familiar gruff voice started to mumble to itself. No one could really understand the exact words he was using, but the dark pressure he put into every muttered syllable was enough to know that they were curses and swearwords.

Elfman sat up on his elbows to look over at Gajeel, "What's got you all riled up?"

"Who'd you pick a fight with this time?" Cana asked tiredly.

Gajeel – who was once again wearing his signature studs and piercings and supporting small bags under his eyes – sent a narrow-eyed scowl towards the general group of lazing students and proceeded to stomp towards the counter with the food. Muttering the whole time he slapped the last remaining pieces of French toast onto his plate and dowsed them in maple syrup. He came noisily to the table and dropped his plate down at the vacant seat beside Levy.

The little smile that had dared to turn the corners of her lips when listening to her friends quarrel lightly with each other had suddenly faded. Her lips tightened as she stared at Gajeel, "What's wrong?"

Gajeel ran a hand through his thick mane of black hair and leaned back in his seat. He took what were probably meant to be calming breaths (except they sounded more like snarling growls to everyone in the room) and then turned to the blue-haired bookworm.

She knew what was wrong – Levy realized he was having the same problem as Mira. He was also one to confront problems with others head on – though his way included much more fists than Mira's way of fighting back. He gave a gruff shake of his head and a grunt and then started taking large bites of his syrup-drowned breakfast.

Levy relaxed a bit once she realized that there hadn't been some new conflict with Laxus, and let her tensed up body slowly unwind itself. She tried to give Gajeel a calming smile – something to get him to stop muttering angrily while he stuffed his face with breakfast – but she couldn't manage it. It felt strange on her lips so she just resorted to staring straight ahead and forcing her mind to not concentrate on anything.

Elfman and Cana had dismissed Gajeel's behavior as normal "Gajeel Anger" and went back to bickering. Mira warily scoped out the studded boy as well, but didn't say anything. When the platinum-blonde determined that Gajeel's situation wasn't anything she needed to worry about, she turned back to her brother to start adding to Cana's teasing insults.

Levy just sat and stared at the wall and a boring picture of a mountainous landscape that disrupted the lifeless cream-color of the room. She could feel the closeness of both Mirajane and Gajeel as they sat on either side of her – both focusing on their own things, but even in their distracted states giving Levy a strange form of comfort. The blue-haired girl felt as though she were tethered to the two.

There was now a connection that she shared with them that hadn't been there a day ago. It was a strange feeling, having them both know the secret that she'd painfully kept for two years on her own, but that strangeness wasn't completely bad…it was actually a pretty good kind of strange.

The constant fear and loneliness that had always followed her had now changed. She still felt both entities trying to consume her, but they had less ferocity than they did before. Levy now had both Gajeel and Mira standing with her in the enveloping loneliness and fear, and just by their simple presence, the two things that plagued her were now starting to give her some space.

She felt her eyes starting to sting with threatening tears as a thought suddenly landed in the middle of her thoughts…

_I'm not alone now._

Mira suddenly let out a huffy sigh and stood up from her seat. "It's freezing in here," She complained, "I'm gonna go tell Master to turn up the heat." She gave a satisfied nod to herself and then looked down at Levy, "I'll be back."

Levy nodded, rubbing the sting from her eyes as well as any hint that she'd been close to tears. The blue-haired girl realized for the first time since losing herself in her thoughts that the room had emptied again. With Mirajane now leaving to complain to Makarov, only Levy and Gajeel were left in the dining hall – Cana and Elfman must have left a little earlier.

Levy watched Mirajane leave out the door that would take her to the student lobby and then outside to the path that led to Master's little condo on the back property, and then turned to Gajeel.

He pushed himself away from the table and stared down at Levy with his dark eyes. He was asking her something, and even without using his words she'd somehow been able to understand him.

Levy nodded, "I told Mirajane…not the whole story, like last night, but she knows what…" She let her sentence drop. Even after telling Gajeel everything, she still found it hard to say anything specific about what had happened to her.

"Good," Gajeel said with his rough voice, "The girl's a demon, but she's your friend. You can't just keep what happened to you a secret."

Levy sighed softly, "I know…I know that now."

Gajeel grunted and crossed his arms over his broad chest, "I really wanna beat the fucker up, but I don't think that'll be enough." The studded boy gave a dark laugh, "Maybe if I broke the bastard's legs bad enough…"

Levy's brown eyes widened as she stared at Gajeel.

He sighed and placed a hand atop her head, "Calm down, Shrimp – it was a joke."

She shook her head slightly, shaking his hand off of her hair, "No…you weren't joking."

The studded boy gave another dark laugh, "Well, yeah not really – I'd love to beat him to a good, brain-dead pulp, but that wouldn't work for you, I'm guessing."

"No – whatever we decide to do, if we just get him expelled, it won't be enough…the way he is…even if he's forced to go somewhere far away, he could do it again to somebody else next time." Levy didn't have much of a plan in mind, but she did know that if Laxus were simply expelled, it wouldn't end – and she didn't want anyone else to go through the same terrors or worse that she did. She didn't want Laxus to hurt anyone else like he had tried to do, and still planned on doing to her.

The two thought in silence, both thinking of ways to deal with the situation – though, Levy guessed that most of Gajeel's thoughts revolved around physical fights.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Levy instinctively flinched at the sudden noise disrupting her thoughts.

It was Mirajane re-entering the dining hall and closing the door behind her. "My mission was successful," the platinum blonde smiled triumphantly.

Levy's brows creased, "Mission?"

"Yes," Mirajane nodded as she neared the quiet couple sitting at the table, "A reconnaissance mission. I went and made sure that Laxus and his little group really did go to town. They've left campus, so we don't have to worry about the enemy barging in on us. I think we should relocate to somewhere less out in the open, though…" Mira tapped at her chin as she looked about the room. Levy wasn't sure why Mirajane was treating this like it was some sort of war game, but whatever her reason, it made Levy smile.

A small laugh escaped from Levy's lips as Gajeel shook his head, "There's something wrong with you, demon." He was giving the platinum blonde one of his favorite scowls.

Mirajane scowled right back, "What? And _you're_ supposed to be the poster-boy for normalcy?"

"Tch – I'm more normal than you at least," Gajeel grumbled.

Mirajane chose to ignore him, "Anyways – let's move this meeting somewhere else."

"We could just go back to my room," Levy offered.

But Mira shook her head, "No, no – that's too obvious." Mira tapped her chin again, when a sudden devious light shone from her eyes. "I know the perfect place!"

With that, she grabbed both Levy and Gajeel's wrists and started pulling them off towards the student lobby, and her secret destination.

* * *

><p><strong>An: So hope you liked the chapter - not actiony or anything but i like it because it deals with the aftermath of Levy's confession.**

**Anywho, ppl have been asking if Laxus is going to get nicer (because in the manga/anime he's now pretty cool and much nicer), but for the purposes of this story, he's gonna stay "Creeper-Laxus" lol sorry**

**ALSO! Look forward to seeing Lily in the next chapter (because hopefully i'll get it out quickly for you). He'll be a little different, description-wise, but he's still the same on the inside xD I can't really have a talking cat with a gigantic sword randomly show up in a high school haha**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay, another update xD I really enjoy writing this story - even though it's got a very serious plotline, there's a lot of room for fun stuff as well. Anywho, hope you like the new chapter, and thanks to everyone who wrote reviews~!**

**~Enjoy~**

**Chapter 10**

The secret destination turned out to be none other than Gajeel's dorm room.

"Why the hell did you choose my room?!" Gajeel growled at Mira as she made herself at home in the studded boy's room.

As Mira shoved books, papers and general clutter off of the desk in the room, not caring that everything tumbled loudly to the floor, "It's unpredictable, and I highly doubt anyone will bother us here." The platinum blonde slid up onto the freshly cleared-off desk, and crossed her legs.

Gajeel scowled at her, "Just don't mess anything else up, Demon."

Mirajane rolled her eyes, "The room's already a mess – what's it matter if I add to it?"

The studded boy grumbled in complaint but didn't fight with the so-called Demon.

Levy stood awkwardly in the doorway, observing the room belonging to her new delinquent friend. The boy's dorm was smaller compared to the girls dorm, and instead of having two separate beds, there was a bunk bed set along one wall. The top bunk was tidy and neat, the navy blue blankets and sheets made up nicely, but the bottom bunk was a mess of sheets and pillows. The room was messy – the floor was strewn with discarded clothes and school books, a trash basket was overflowing with crumpled papers and empty soda cans, the tall dresser had drawers half-way open and spewing out random articles of clothes. Levy couldn't help but think that this room definitely belonged to Gajeel – he hadn't struck her as the neat and orderly type. She figured that the top bunk – a.k.a. the only clean thing in the whole room – probably belonged to Lily, Gajeel's roommate.

Gajeel sighed loudly and turned towards Levy, "Just sit anywhere, I guess." He pulled his rolling chair away from the desk Mira had situated herself on and plopped down in it.

Since Gajeel had taken the only chair, and Mirajane had claimed the desk, Levy was left with either the dirty floor, or the messy bottom bunk. She decided on the latter, and sat down on the edge of what she was sure was Gajeel's bed. Levy felt oddly strange about her intrusion, but Gajeel didn't seem to care.

"So," Mira started, "We have to figure out what we're going to do. Anyone have any ideas?"

Gajeel gave a dark and deep laugh, "I've got a few…"

The platinum blonde shook her head at the delinquent, "Let me rephrase that – anyone have an idea that _doesn't_ involve simply beating the enemy into a bloody mess?"

Levy's stomach turned a little bit as she answered, "I've been thinking a lot about it…I think the best way to make sure he won't come after me or anyone else is to get the police involved." She kept her eyes focused on her lap as she spoke – Levy felt that if she met either of their eyes, she might lose her nerve to speak her mind. After hiding it all for two years, she found it hard to suddenly be talking about it so much.

"Are you sure? Involving the police would make this a big deal…and the charges might not even stick," Mirajane thought aloud.

Levy shook her head, keeping her eyes on her lap, "No – we have to go to the police. We have to try. Even if he somehow gives up on me, I'm sure he'd eventually do it to someone else…I don't want anyone else to have to…"

"Then we'll do it your way," Gajeel interrupted to spare her from explaining further, "But the police probably won't convict him on just your claim – especially because everyone in the school thinks he's a fucking god."

Mira nodded, "We'll need someone to back up our claim…I think we'll need Master to help us with this."

Levy's heart beat faster – Makarov was one of the last people Levy thought she'd be able to tell. "Even if…if I explain it all to him, I don't think that would be enough for the police either."

Mirajane creased her brows in thought as she said, "Master might need to see Laxus in the act for the police to take us seriously."

"No fucking way," Gajeel growled at Mira, "You really wanna –?"

"I didn't say I wanted to, but it might be the only way," Mira interrupted. She took a deep breath and continued, "I don't want to put her in danger either, but the only way to get proof is have an eyewitness account…"

Levy's hands were starting to shake as she clenched them together, "So…we might have to let Laxus try to…hurt me again, and then have Master somehow see it…"

Gajeel was angry, "We're not doing that! That bastard could –"

"Calm down, will you, Gajeel? I'm not saying that this is the only option we've got…" Mira interrupted yet again.

"No…I think Mira's right…" Levy said quietly, admitting her thoughts. She'd been thinking about the whole problem and ways to solve it the whole morning, and she'd known on some level that without proof, there was no way to definitely tie Laxus to what he did…

"What?!" Gajeel practically shouted as he spun himself to face Levy full on.

The blue-haired girl forced herself to look up and meet his dark-eyes gaze. "Mirajane's right…the police would believe an adult more than a few kids, right? If we plan to get Laxus arrested, we're gonna need Makarov to…to see something."

Gajeel ran his hands through his thick mane of hair, "Shit…" Levy could see that behind his dark eyes he was trying to think of another way. That look on his face made Levy's stomach stop churning so violently…the delinquent boy who'd had a reputation for practically hating everyone actually looked seriously concerned. Granted, he also looked quite angry, but Levy could definitely tell that this anger was because he was worried.

"So we'll have to lure Laxus to chase after Levy – and when he thinks he's cornered her, we'll have Makarov burst in," Mirajane said solemnly. She had her hands each hanging off of her opposite shoulders, letting her fingers drum against her body while she thought.

Gajeel scowled at nothing as he too tried to think deeply. "Fine – if we're gonna do it this way, then we gotta make sure that there's no chance that bastard gets off the hook. If we do this, we make sure there's no question that he's guilty."

Mirajane smiled at the studded boy, "I agree to your condition. How about you, Levy?"

Levy nodded and looked to the both of them. Her hands had finally stopped shaking.

She knew that whatever the plan turned out to be, it would probably be dangerous – anything having to do with Laxus would be dangerous – but she knew that she would be safe.

"Thanks, you guys…I –" but her gratitude was quickly snubbed by Gajeel.

"Save it, Shrimp. Save it until we trap that bastard," he said with his rough voice.

Mirajane nodded her agreement with Gajeel's statement, and the three quickly plunged into planning out their method to save Levy and send Laxus away for good.

They stayed in Gajeel's room for a good two hours, and at the end of it they had a pretty good plan. They decided that they'd set it into motion in two days – giving them enough time to prepare everything and make sure their plan was perfect. No one wanted to make a mistake, especially with Levy's safety on the line…

The long and emotionally draining night that Levy had had was finally catching up to her. Throughout the whole meeting, she'd found herself nodding off and her eyelids growing heavier. She had started out as merely sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk, but as the meeting progressed, so did her position. Levy went from sitting, to leaning on her side with her head propped up on one arm, to flat out lying on her stomach.

Once she switched to the position on her stomach, she knew it was only a matter of time before she fully fell asleep. As her thoughts started to drift away, she caught herself recognizing the spicy and warm scent of Gajeel on the pillow she was using and thinking that it was oddly comforting.

* * *

><p>Both Mirajane and Gajeel had noticed Levy starting to get drowsier as their talk went on. The studded boy had tried to silently ask Mira what they should do, but Mira only gave her devilish smile and said, "Let her sleep."<p>

Part of Gajeel wanted to protest, it was only a small part. The rest of him decided that she should just sleep – she'd had a horrible couple of days…hell, a horrible couple of years. She probably needed some good sleep.

Gajeel suddenly realized that Mira was staring at him.

"What?" he asked grouchily.

Mira kept up her analytical stare, "Why'd you help Levy, anyways?

Gajeel's face fell into one of his signature scowls, "What kinda bastard do you think I am? I may hate people, but if I know about something like this I'm not just gonna sit back and let it happen."

Mira shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant. I know you're not actually as evil as you look – I'm just wondering why you suddenly concerned yourself with Levy enough to force the truth out of her…"

The studded boy shrugged and kept up his scowl, "I'm good at figuring out people. She acted weird when it concerned the blonde bastard, and it seemed serious, so I wanted to find out what was goin' on…and _OI_! Don't say I look evil."

Mira gave a funny little smile and leaned back against the wall that the desk was set against, "Fine, should I say you look frightening then?"

"Hmph – I guess that's better."

The two let their discussion go back to the plan. They talked about it a little more, tweaking it here and there for about twenty more minutes. Suddenly, Mira hopped off the desk and stretched her legs. "I think I'm going to do some more reconnaissance," she smiled as she slowly headed for the door, "I'll make sure the enemy isn't up to anything suspicious."

"What? You're just gonna leave her here?" Gajeel asked, trying not to be too loud so that the sleeping bookworm wouldn't wake up.

Mirajane the Demon grinned, "She's tired Gajeel – just let her sleep."

Gajeel only gave her an angry scowl in protest.

Mira gave a small little laugh and came to stand beside the bed where Levy's small form was sleeping, "Relax – I'll come back for her in a bit. I don't see any problem with that."

"You can't just leave your sleeping friend in a guys' dorm room."

"Oh, can't I?" Mira said deviously. She reached down and pushed some of Levy's blue hair out of her eyes. The small girl was sleeping on her stomach with her head resting on a bent arm, facing the rest of the room. "Can you not restrain yourself against my cute little Levy's charm?" The Demon's hand came to her mouth as if she were shocked at some sort of scandal, "Oh, Gajeel, you bad boy. Such inappropriate thoughts!"

Gajeel could only stare with his naturally angry visage with an open mouth.

_Inappropriate thoughts?_

"The hell?!" he asked a little too loudly, "I wasn't having any thoughts! You were the one having weird thoughts," Gajeel accused. He was really starting to regret his decision to let the bookworm sleep.

"_Fufufufu_," Mira gave a fake laugh, "Don't do anything naughty – I'll be back in a bit."

"You really are a demon if you can joke about something like that – especially considering the problem with the blonde bastard." Gajeel reacted, suddenly standing from his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

Mirajane put a hand on the door but turned seriously back to Gajeel. Her face had lost its fiendish grin and her eyes were now shining with sincerity. She gave a soft smile – one that probably only the closest people to her had ever seen – and said, "I joke and tease because that's the only way I know how to cope…with something so serious going on, and realizing that my best friend decided to trust you with her secret before me – it's a lot for me to take in." Mira turned around and pushed on the doorknob. As the door swung open she looked over her shoulder and said as she left, "But – just because I'm teasing you, doesn't mean I'm not serious."

The door swung closed behind her with a soft click, leaving Levy sleeping silently and Gajeel wondering what the heck the Demon meant by all that.

He understood the first part – he guessed it was kinda strange that Levy chose to tell him, who she'd never really spoken to before, before one of her close friends – but what the hell did she mean by being serious when she was teasing someone? And why the hell did she suddenly start implying that he'd do weird things to the girl while she slept?

Gajeel shook his head and plopped back down in his rolling chair.

So now what was he supposed to do? He had been planning to take a nap once the talking got over, but that was obviously out of the question now that the bookworm was in his bed.

He glanced over at her and saw that she had shifted in her sleep so that she was curled up on her side with her arms and legs tucked in close to her body. The girl appeared to be shivering slightly, so without thinking Gajeel got up and pulled the sheet that he used instead of a blanket over her.

He let his hands rest on his hips as he looked about the room. Gajeel figured the Demon wouldn't be back for quite a while, just to make him angry, so he was probably going to be stuck with the sleeping shrimp for a few hours.

He pushed his rolling chair over to the desk and sat down in front of the cleared off section. He pulled the laptop that he and Lily shared from its place on the floor and decided he'd waste some time on the internet – there was always something to do on the World Wide Web. Gajeel stole another glance at the sleeping Levy, and silently willed the Demon to hurry up and come back…he had a feeling that things were only going to get even more awkward if the bookworm stayed much longer.

* * *

><p>A tall, broad shouldered boy suddenly trudged through the foot high snow towards Magnolia Academy. He had fuzzy black hair that was cut close to his head, and dark brown skin that resembled the color of coffee with just a little dab of creamer in it. A large duffle bag hung from one of his shoulders as he turned right towards the student lobby and the dorm rooms.<p>

He could hear colorful shouts coming from inside, and as he pushed open the door to the student lobby, he spotted a group of six freshmen boys gathered around the pool table. As he stepped further into the lobby, one of the more talkative and outgoing freshman by the name of Romeo looked up.

"Hey! You're back early, Lily!" He called and waved from the pool table.

The newcomer – Lily – brushed off some of the snow that had gathered on his shoulders and smiled politely. "Hey, Romeo," Lily looked around the rest of the room but saw no one besides the freshmen kids, "Where's everyone else?"

Romeo pulled his pool stick behind his head to rest on his shoulders. He pouted, "Master let the older kids go to town, but told us that the freshmen couldn't go. I think Gajeel and a few others are around here somewhere, but I haven't seen anyone but Mirajane in a few hours."

Lily nodded and gave a wave to the younger students, "Thanks. See you all later."

Romeo waved his pool stick and then turned back to his friends, who all seemed a little awed that he'd been brave enough to talk openly to a senior like that.

Lily laughed lightly to himself and turned to his left towards the boys' dormitory. He figured that Gajeel would probably be grouching about in their room due to his dislike of both people and the holidays.

It didn't take him long to find room 16E, which was his and Gajeel's room. He pushed open the door, trying not to be too loud just in case his friend was sleeping or something – but he realized his caution wasn't needed. Lily immediately saw Gajeel's bulky form sitting slouched at the computer as he played some sort of game with the arrow keys.

"That looks very entertaining," Lily joked from the doorway.

Gajeel turned around and grinned once he saw who was there.

"You're back," he said as he canceled out of the window on the computer screen and stood up.

Lily was about to explain that he'd gotten bored spending so much time with his family and decided to come back ahead of schedule, when he realized that Gajeel had spoken in a strange gruff whisper.

Lily had pretty keen senses – it took him only a few seconds longer to realize that there was a third smaller person in the room with them, sleeping curled up on Gajeel's bed.

He stared at the blue-haired head resting on Gajeel's pillow in silence.

Gajeel also turned to look at his bed and let his hands run through his thick black hair.

Lily just looked at the sleeping girl and finally stated, "That's McGarden, isn't it…"

Gajeel gave a quiet cough, "Yeah…"

Lily smirked a little bit, "Well, I see you haven't been lonely without me."

Gajeel scowled, "You're a bastard, you know that?"

"So you frequently tell me," Lily smirked with laughing brown eyes. "I'm guessing this isn't what it looks like."

"Exactly," Gajeel growled, "The Demon left her here…"

Lily recognized Gajeel's nickname for their classmate Mirajane and found himself getting more confused about the situation. So not only was the introvert Levy McGarden in their room, but also the troublesome matchmaker Mirajane of the popular Strauss Siblings. It was a very curious situation, but knowing Gajeel as he did, Lily doubted it was anything scandalous. His best guess was that Mirajane was on another one of her matchmaking binges, and his friend happened to be caught in her cross-hairs.

"Should I not ask?" Lily finally questioned.

Gajeel crossed his arms and glanced towards the girl sleeping in his bed, "No, you shouldn't. It's nothing I can say yet."

Lily set his duffle bag down in the corner by the door, "Well, I should probably go –"

But Lily was distracted by sudden movement.

McGarden was starting to wake up. The blue-haired girl pushed herself up onto her arms and let her legs uncurl themselves. She let out a small groan and looked down at herself, "Ah…sorry. I didn't mean to fall –" but at that moment she realized that Mirajane wasn't in the room anymore, and that a new face had suddenly shown up. "Lily!" Levy said in surprise, "Uh…hi…"

Lily couldn't help but smirk – the introverted girl's face had suddenly turned a bright red color and she looked deathly embarrassed. He gave her a small nod in greeting, "Levy."

The three of them just stood there for a moment – no one really sure what to say. By some miracle, they were saved by the platinum blonde, who had a wonderful talent for breaking up awkward silences and situations.

Mirajane suddenly barged into the room without knocking, saying as she stepped inside, "You better have left poor Levy alone, Gajeel~!" The girl was snickering to herself as she waltzed into the room.

Levy's face somehow managed to get redder and Lily bit back a small laugh.

"Dammit, Demon – do you want to get punched in the face?" Gajeel growled.

Mira noticed that Levy was now awake and red-faced and gave her friend a smile. "Oh, you woke up. Have a good nap?" She asked as if she hadn't just said something to embarrass the bookworm.

Levy mumbled something inaudible, but Mira had switched her attention to Lily, "Ah – I figured you'd be here. Romeo said you'd come back." Mirajane gave a small little laugh and asked, "How was your vacation?"

Lily shook his head, "Good, but I'm assuming yours was much more eventful."

Mirajane nodded fiendishly, "Oh yes – it's been very interesting." The platinum blonde turned back to the scowling Gajeel, "Well, anyway – sorry, Gajeel, but I'm rescuing Sleeping Beauty over there from the Dragon's den. We've got things to do."

Levy looked suddenly concerned, "Things?"

Mirajane nodded, "Yep – You, me and Cana are going to plan another event!"

Levy groaned, "No, Mira…not another one."

"Trust me; this will be way better – and less dangerous – than the scavenger hunt." Mira pulled Levy from Gajeel's bed and dragged her towards the door.

"Aren't there more important things to do, besides your stupid games?" Gajeel complained.

Mira just smiled, "Not at the moment. Part of the plan was to act like nothing was going on right? It would be more suspicious if I _didn't_ try to get everyone to play my stupid events."

Gajeel sighed and plopped back down in his rolling chair by his desk, "Fine – at least you know your games are retarded."

Lily was just watching the group silently as they bickered. Another smile came to his lips as the two girls left their room, the blonde matchmaker pulling the blue-haired introvert.

Gajeel frowned at his friend, "What?"

Lily shook his head, "Nothing…but it seems you've made friends."

"Tch – shut up," Gajeel grumbled.

"Will you be able to read me in on what that was all about? Or should I just pretend like I just got back now, and saw none of that?" Lily asked, leaning against the wall.

Gajeel took a loud breath and scratched at his head, "I don't know. It'll all come out eventually, but I'd rather have you help us now that you're here…I'll talk to the Bookworm about it later."

Lily nodded, "It seems like something rather serious – I'd understand if you can't tell me."

Gajeel seemed to debate with himself for a moment before looking solemnly towards his roommate and friend, "For now, just keep a close eye on McGarden…everything's fucking crazy and she's right in the middle of it."

* * *

><p>Levy knew that the game was going to be bad, just by the looks on Cana's and Lisanna's faces. Mirajane had also recruited the other two to help her, and decided to invade Levy's room. Levy had ditched planning the game all together and plopped herself down on her bed with a book. When she thought to look up to check on her friends' progress, she could see how exasperated Cana and Lisanna were with Mira's plan. They'd probably tried to make it less sucky somehow, but knowing Mira, the platinum blonde probably didn't listen – she liked to do thing her way, and her way only.<p>

When the girls were about done getting the game set up and figured out, and when Levy was probably half finished with her newest read, a nervous freshman girl knocked on the door and told them that Master wanted them to go to the kitchen. Levy was pretty sure the younger girl's name was Wendy or something similar, but she had disappeared before Levy could ask.

Once they got out to the kitchen and realized that Makarov wanted their help with dinner, the night went by quickly. Dinner was going to be hamburgers, potato salad, and normal salad – which were much better than the hotdogs they'd had previously.

Levy focused on her small tasks – she'd never been much of a cook so she got saddled with doing the dishes as the others dirtied them – and keeping her thoughts anywhere but on her problems. She realized that she was no longer aching so badly from the hockey game incident. While she still had a nasty bruise on her stomach and a slight bump on her head, there was no more pain when she twisted or turned her torso.

When the food was finished, Makarov used the PA system to tell everyone that dinner was ready, and soon the dining hall was filled up with the Holiday Stayers. They all seemed to be happy about the hamburgers – especially the girls, who'd been dreading another night of hotdogs – and the food disappeared quickly.

Mira started passing telling all the seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores that there was gonna be another game after dinner so they should just stay in the dining hall when they were finished.

"Oooo – can I join your little game?" Makarov asked with a grin.

Mirajane huffed, "No, you cannot. This is for students only, Master."

The old man pouted, "Well, you're no fun." He broke his pout to laugh at Mira and then said, "Have fun then – just make sure you don't break anything…and if something does happen to break, blame Bixlow."

Mira raised an eyebrow, "Why Bixlow?"

Headmaster Makarov laughed fiendishly, "If you blame him, I can my money back from that stupid sandwich bet – the kid hustled me out of my money."

"That's pretty evil, Master," Mira smiled.

Master snickered, "When it comes to my money, I'll stop at nothing." He shook his head and took some of the last plates into his hands, "Well, you crazy brats have fun without me. I'm heading off to my house after I dump these in the kitchen."

A couple of the nearby students called out a "Goodnight" to Master as he disappeared into the kitchen and left through another door.

Mira then turned to the table, where most of the participants in her new game where gathered around. "Alright everyone, sit down and shut up!" She smiled happily as she brought up a shoebox from beneath the table and set it loudly down on the table.

As everyone gathered around one end of the circular table that way everyone was close together for the game, Mirajane started to explain her new creation…

Except, it made almost no sense…

It was like some kind of mixture of "Would You Rather" and "Truth or Dare", where each person had a turn and picked a card. They would have to choose one of two things written on their card and do them. Mira had probably imagined that the card choices were going to be fun little dares or challenges, but most of them turned out to be just plain punishments. And aside from the dumb challenges on the cards, Mira hadn't actually figured out a way for someone to win.

So after Alzack had to choose between holding his tongue until his next turn and speaking without using the letter "R" and after Elfman pulled a card telling him to either wear a pink tutu for two turns or doing a hundred jumping jacks, people started to complain.

"Sis ame zucks," Alzack said boredly as he kept his tongue held between two fingers.

"Why don't we just play normal Truth or Dare," Evergreen complained, "We'd get to come up with stuff ourselves instead of using these lame card ideas".

The rest of the group started to agree with Ever's suggestion, and Mirajane pouted at the entire table, "You guys just want it to be bad because I came up with it."

"No – it really is bad. Half of these dares are retarded, and the other half are just plain punishments." Elfman said as he leaned against the table.

Levy nodded and turned to her friend, "I think you need to let this one go."

"You too, Levy?!" Mira asked, as if she was shocked.

Levy nodded and Mirajane gave a huffy sigh, "Fine – let's play boring old Truth or Dare."

Everyone cheered at this, and Mira stole the first chance to dare someone.

The game then turned into normal Truth or Dare. Elfman got dared to carry Sherry around on his shoulders while singing a Queen song. Evergreen got dared to dunk her head fully into a sink full of water. Gajeel got dared to drink a whole bottle of hot sauce (which he did in about three large gulps). Bixlow got dared to roll around in the snow in just his boxers. Cana was asked a truth about what color underwear she was wearing (She checked by pulling at the waist of her jeans and then replied that they were purple). Fried was dared to let one of the girls braid his long hair (Mirajane jumped at this opportunity to fondle the boy's gorgeous long hair).

The dares and truths started out funny and simple – any of the outrageously embarrassing or mean ones got voted down – but as the night progressed and a large bottle of vodka that Bixlow and Laxus bought in town got passed around, the intensity changed as well as the type of game.

Since everyone had run out of creative dares because no one liked choosing truth, someone would randomly blurt out a question, and everyone around the table would have to answer it. The first questions started out funny like "Who at the school has the worst fashion sense" and "Who at the table would you want with you for the Zombie Apocalypse?" to which almost everyone answered either Gajeel, Bixlow or Laxus because they were strong.

Most of the players around the table were slightly buzzed, but Levy had taken care to pass on the alcohol every time it came around. She was definitely not going to drink while Laxus was present to take advantage of any weakness she had. She could feel an icy gaze on her every time she passed the bottle on without drinking, and didn't need to look up to see that it was Laxus staring her down with a horrible smirk on his lips.

Bixlow suddenly blurted out, "Okay ~ new question. If you had to kiss someone around the table, who would it be?" His voice was slurred slightly and you could tell that he was a little over the buzzed mark by the red tint to his cheeks. He hummed to himself and answered, "I'd say Cana."

Cana laughed from farther down the table and took a large swig of the vodka. She set the bottle down on the table with a funny grimace on her face due to the bitter drink and replied, "I don't think you could handle a kiss from me."

Bixlow shook his head as everyone laughed and pointed to his left, at Evergreen. "You're up, Ever."

No one was surprised to hear her answer. "Laxus, duh," she said as if it had been the most obvious thing in the world. She leaned to her left and smacked a kiss on Laxus' cheek because he was just a little too far away for their lips to meet.

The blonde smirked handsomely and then settled his blue-eyed gaze on Levy, who was determined to look anywhere but at him. "Well," Laxus started, "I've never kissed Levy before – I bet she's good at it."

That earned him a few cat-calls from around the table and a frowny glare from Evergreen, but no one but Mira and Gajeel noticed that there was a look of fear shining in Levy's eyes. Mira patted her friend's knee as some form of comfort, and Levy gave her a thankful look.

The question continued down the table. Sherry said she'd kiss Alzack; Angel said Bixlow; Lisanna picked Lily; and Cana chose Elfman giving the boy a drunken wink as she did so. Mira was next and she playfully blew a kiss to Fried as her answer. Fried only responded by smiling politely.

The table laughed as Bixlow pretended to intercept the blown kiss before it reached Fried. Everyone then turned to Levy for her turn.

She smiled slightly and answered, "Uh, Elfman I guess."

Elfman laughed and flexed his muscles, "Oh yeah – that's two for me, guys."

Cana gave a playful glare at Levy and slurred, "We'll hafta fight for 'im."

"Well I'm not giving him to either of you," Mira laughed deviously, "I've already made plans for him."

Elfman shuttered at the thought of his sister trying to set him up and then turned to Alzack, who was next down the line.

The black-haired boy was slouching against the table looking kinda depressed. His cheeks were red from the vodka and his eyes looked a little out of focus. "Can I choose Bisca? I don't wanna kiss anyone at the table."

Mirajane and Cana gave a drawn out "Awe" and Elfman gave his friend a pat on the back. "Alright – that sounds good. It's my turn then." Elfman looked around the table as if weighing all his options – which were limited considering two of the few girls at the table were his sisters –and then answered, "Sorry, Cana, Levy – but I'm gonna say Evergreen."

Evergreen responded with a quick, "You wish," but then proceeded to glare at Laxus, presumably because he hadn't chosen her like she had thought.

It was Gajeel's turn next, and he was making a horribly vicious face at the wall in front of him. "I kinda hate all of you – do I really have to choose?"

"Come on Gajeel, you have to pick someone," Mirajane said with a suggestive smirk.

"Pick the person you hate the least, then," Fried said stoically – it had probably been the first thing he'd voluntarily said all night.

Gajeel grumbled to himself and glared around the table. He actually hadn't been drinking much either – just a sip here and there so he wouldn't hurt his image – but he'd had enough to get him buzzed. If he hadn't been drinking at all, he probably would have fought not to answer at all, but he ended up giving in. "Fine – I'll say Levy then. I hate her a little less than I hate most of you."

Everyone laughed and Laxus spoke up, "Well don't you have a way with words."

Despite hearing Laxus' chilling voice, Levy managed to smile at the delinquent, "I'm flattered."

Mirajane and Cana exchanged snickers, but Gajeel just kept up his steady scowl.

Lily was next and decided to help take the focus off Gajeel, "Well, I'll say Cana then."

Cana grinned, "I'll allow it."

The last person was Fried, who was sitting to the right of Bixlow. "I'll return the favor and choose Mirajane."

Mirajane grinned and was suddenly out of her seat. Everyone was too shocked to do anything but watch as Mira quickly rounded the table and came to Fried's side. The green-haired boy was just as confused as the rest of the table when suddenly Mirajane leaned over and landed her lips right on top of his.

It was a quick peck and after probably a few seconds Mira pulled away with a happy smirk. Fried looked absolutely dumb-struck, and it was the first time for most people at the table to see him making face that wasn't totally serious.

Mirajane placed her hands on her hips and faced the table, "Well, I think that's a good note to end on."

Fried coughed to force the dumbstruck look to disappear. Cana was snickering to herself, "Yeah, I think we should call it a night."

Mutters of agreement echoed around the table and people started to clear out. Laxus was laughing loudly as he pulled Fried out of his chair and slung an arm around his friend's shoulder. "She got you pretty good, huh?"

Fried started to mumble something, but the two followed by Bixlow had already disappeared towards the Student Lobby.

Mira came to Levy's and Cana's side as the room started to empty. "Well, I accomplished my goal for the night."

Cana shook her head, "Were you really planning that the whole night, or was that just the booze?"

"We~ll, I wanted to do that sometime over the break, and realized once we started that last question that now was the perfect time." Mirajane smiled deviously and started walking proudly towards the lobby as well.

Cana and Levy followed her. "She's got guts, I'll give her that," Cana said shaking her head and leaning against Levy for support, because the alcohol was impeding her ability to walk straight. "And you, Missy Levy were quite the popular choice tonight. The player and the delinquent both wanted to kiss you."

Levy rolled her eyes at her drunken friend, and led her towards the dormitories for a good night's rest.

* * *

><p><strong>An: hehehe go Mira! wish I had that kinda confidence lol Anywho, thanks for reading. The next chapter is sitting right there in my head, so hopefully it won't take too long to update xD**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys~! Well there was a little more delay with this update than I would have liked, but my laziness is the only thing to blame lol Anywho, I think you'll like this chapter, even if it is kinda choppy.**

**And thanks again for all the wonderful reviews that you leave me! They make me very happy xD**

**~Enjoy~!**

**~Chapter 11~**

While Lily truly had no idea what was going on with McGarden, Mirajane and his friend Gajeel, he had noticed a few things in the short time he'd been back – specifically during the night's game.

First of all, he noticed that Gajeel seemed more irritated and moody than normal. Lily could tell that the mystery situation was definitely serious, but he was amused more than anything to see Gajeel worried for someone else's sake, rather than his own for once.

Secondly, while Mirajane seemed to be acting normal for the sake of the rest of the group, she was visibly agitated about something. She didn't stop moving for the entire duration of the night. Mira was constantly eyeing the others at the table, glancing nervously over at Levy, tapping her fingers on the table, and using more hand motions than usual whenever she spoke. There was something bothering her thoughts, and whatever it was, was preventing her from sitting still for more than a second.

Next he noticed Levy. Usually, she didn't warrant too much of his attention, but now that he knew to look, he made a few observations. She looked constantly nervous…or maybe it was a type of fear that hid behind all of her actions. She would forcefully keep her eyes from straying too far away from certain points, as if looking elsewhere were somehow dangerous. It was curious behavior for sure, but Lily did notice that one of the few places she would occasionally look to was Gajeel, to the right of where Lily had been sitting. As far as Lily knew, Gajeel and McGarden had never socially crossed paths. They might have had a few classes together at some point or another, but Lily was certain they'd never spoken outside of the classroom atmosphere.

Lily smirked at his delinquent friend as they reached their dorm room. He sighed and let his arms cross over his chest, "I take back what I said earlier."

Gajeel raised one of his pierced eyebrows, "Huh?"

"I think you've made _more_ than a friend," Lily teased with a warm chuckle. He couldn't help himself – opportunities to tease his intimidating friend came few and far between, so Lily had to take what he could get.

"You're still a bastard," Gajeel growled as his scowl returned.

"I think you hate Levy _significantly_ less than you hate everyone else," Lily said, toying with the words Gajeel had a few minutes ago to justify answering the "Who would you kiss" question.

"And I'm starting to hate you more," the studded boy glowered.

Lily sighed and released his small smirk. He turned to finally start unpacking his duffle bag that had remained fully packed on top of his bunk bed the whole day. His thoughts returned to his previous thoughts about observations he'd made during the game.

There was one more thing he had noticed, but he wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the whole "Mystery Situation", as he was coming to call it for lack of a better description. There had been a strange tenseness between Evergreen and Laxus that had overridden their usual touchy and affectionate personalities towards each other. Sure their relationship with each other had always struck Lily as odd, but tonight it had seemed especially so. Lily guessed that they'd had a lovers' spat, but whatever it was, something had definitely happened between the two…

* * *

><p>Levy lay in bed, awake and nowhere near sleep. She lay covered up with her blanket, and listening to the sleeping sounds that Mirajane made as she tossed about in Lucy's bed. Mira had insisted that she sleep with Levy for the night, and had made herself right at home on Lucy's unused bed.<p>

While Levy stared at the dark ceiling and kept warm beneath her covers, her mind was doing other things. The plans kept repeating over and over in her head, often accompanied by worries over every little detail. She knew that worrying wouldn't help at all, but she just couldn't get her mind to stop.

_What if he doesn't act like we expect him to? What if he figures out that we're planning something? What if I mess something up? What if the plan fails?...What if it works?_

She was most worried about it backfiring and failing somehow, but surprisingly, she found herself worrying about the aftermath if the plan actually worked. If she were able to expose Laxus' true nature to the school, what would happen? The entire school might blame her for taking away their idol. Evergreen would probably treat her more cruelly than before. Her other friends might distance themselves her – Lucy probably wouldn't, but how would Jet and Droy act? Would they be angry at her for not telling them sooner? Or worse, would they start to treat her differently because of everything that happened?

So many thoughts clouded her mind. A lot of them were baseless worries, but despite knowing this, she couldn't stop herself from thinking them. Somewhere amidst her troubled thoughts, Levy had drifted off to sleep where more nightmares awaited her.

* * *

><p>The morning brought with it a dark day. Another snow storm had hit Fiore, and it was probably the worst one they'd had in years. But while the day outside was frighteningly cold and harsh, the day for the Holiday-Stayers wouldn't turn out so bad. They were forced to stay inside due to the extreme weather, but they all made due. Most of the upperclassmen slept in, nursing headaches and hangovers from the previous night, but the freshmen had gotten up relatively early, still upset that the older kids had excluded them yet again from their games. The boy Romeo, ringleader of the freshmen kids, decided that they'd take the abuse no longer, and devised a game of their own to get back at the older kids.<p>

As the upperclassmen finally started to shuffle out of their rooms around eleven for a late breakfast, Romeo and his classmates prepared to strike. When all but a few of the seniors had gathered in the dining hall – even Master Makarov was lounging about at the table – the battle began.

The freshmen, who's faces had all been decked out with war paint (a.k.a. lipstick they'd striped across their cheeks in various designs), suddenly burst into the dining hall with wastebaskets of balled up paper. They attacked the upperclassmen with these fake snowballs, and caught Makarov in the crossfire as well.

Bixlow, Elfman and Cana were the first to fight back, picking up the fallen "snowballs" and chucking them back at the freshmen, who'd tipped over empty dining chairs to create a barricade as soon as they rushed the dining hall. Gajeel and Lily were also quick to join the fray, both laughing wildly and attacking without mercy. Master had also tried to join in, but was met with opposition from both sides. Students of all classes started to bombard Makarov as soon as he bent to pick up a fallen "snowball".

The battle had lasted a good fifteen minutes, and by the time Master blew the whistle, everyone was out of breath and clutching their sides that had started to ache from laughing so much. All of the upperclassmen had joined in – with the exceptions of Fried and Laxus who were the only ones who hadn't been in the dining room when it started. Even Evergreen had started pitching the faux snowballs at people, though she really only joined because people kept hitting her with the crumpled up papers and she got kinda pissed that she couldn't just eat her bowl of Special K in peace.

"Alright, alright ~ calm it down now, brats," Master Makarov panted. He had spent the entire battle trying to dodge the snowballs as they came at him from all sides, but in the end, all his ducking and weaving didn't do him much good.

Bixlow tossed one last "snowball" after the room had fallen still, which tapped Makarov smack dab in the center of his forehead.

Master scowled at the black-haired fiend, "Eugene – don't make me whip out that middle name of yours as well."

Bixlow froze at the threat and immediately dropped all of the accumulated paper balls that he had cradled in his arms. Everyone knew that he had an embarrassing first name, but it was rumored that his middle name was ten times as worse. Bixlow liked to say that his parents must have lost a bet with the devil, for them to have picked such an awful name for him, but the jock would never tell anyone exactly what his awful name was.

Master smiled triumphantly, "Yeah, that's what I thought." He sighed and rested his hands on his hips, then proceeding to command the rest of his students to clean up before they got back to their breakfasts.

"But the freshmen started it," Evergreen complained.

"Too bad," Master replied as he plopped himself down into one of the dining chairs, "You all participated, so you all clean up."

At this point, Mirajane broke out into one of her signature falsely saint-like smiles, "Well, what are you waiting for, Master?

Makarov's smile faded. "…What?"

Levy saw what Mira was going for and picked up where her friend left off, "Well, according to your own rule, since we fought back, we have to help clean…if I remember correctly, you played along as well, Master."

"That's right!" Mirajane continued sweetly, "You wouldn't want to set a bad example for your students by being a hypocrite, would you?"

Master frowned and muttered, "Stupid brats – fine! You win. I'll help since it seems you're all lazy bums who like to torture crotchety old men."

"You're not that old, Master," Alzack laughed.

Master went back to his grumbling as the room full of tired out battle veterans went to work cleaning up their mess. As quickly as the battle started, all evidence of it had disappeared, and the day passed by without much else happening.

The students all split up into their own little groups of friends, and spent most of the day lazing about and enjoying their Christmas vacation.

For a few though, the day was spent in preparation. Using the master key that the librarian had left Levy for the break, Mirajane and the blue-haired bookworm headed to the main school building by way of the student lobby. They went through the first and second floors, locking up all the doors that were unnecessary for their future plans. Tomorrow would be their day of action, and they needed to make sure that all but the doors that led to their main stage were locked up tight.

"I think our biggest obstacle will be making sure he knows where to find you," Mira sighed quietly as she pulled the key out of one of the classroom doors on the second floor.

But Levy shook her head, "No – he'll know exactly where to find me."

Mirajane frowned, "Are you sure that's the best place then? The library only has the one exit…wouldn't it be better to give you an escape route in-case something goes wrong?"

The bookworm shook her head again. She had chosen the library for a few different reasons – if the plan was going to work, it needed to happen in the library. "No, it's better this way – and besides, we've already got everything set up in there."

Mirajane bit at her lip as she often did when she was thinking seriously. The two continued down the long hallway of their empty school, heading towards the stairs that would take them down to the first floor. "You know, Levy," the platinum blonde started slowly, "You can back out of this if you want…I'm sure there's another way. The police might not need so much evidence – I'm sure just the accusation of…what he's been trying to do will be enough to get him sent far away…" Mira felt her stomach do strange, uncomfortable flips. She still couldn't wrap her head around the four-letter _R_ word…she felt that even if she thought that word, it would somehow jinks their plans. As if merely thinking the word could bring bad luck.

Levy kept her eyes straight ahead as she replied with as steady a voice as she could muster, "It has to be this way…sure I could get him sent away with an accusation, but that wouldn't stop him. Even if he has to leave and I'm not his target anymore, that doesn't mean he won't do it to someone else." Levy paused for a moment and then continued in a whisper more to herself than Mirajane, "And if I don't do this now…it'll only get harder the longer I wait."

If she didn't do it now, she felt like she'd never have the courage to do it.

"Alright," Mira replied quietly, "Just know that you have people to help you now, okay?"

Levy gave a small smile to her friend and nodded.

The two headed back down to the Student Lobby, where they planned to relax and try to avoid trouble for the rest of the day.

Night fell quickly, not that you could really tell by looking outside – it had been so dark all day due to the heavy storm clouds, that even the transition from day to night was only a few shades difference. Dinner that night was pancakes and scrambled eggs because Master Makarov was lazy and didn't feel like making anything too involved for dinner.

The whole day had been calm and uneventful – excluding that morning's paper "Snowball" fight – and the night was looking much the same. Levy left the table early with the excuse of being tired and Mirajane followed after her. The seated Holiday-Stayers were both shocked and relived at the same time when they realized that the platinum blonde hadn't planned any horrible event for that night.

"I'm too busy planning the New Years' Fiesta for Saturday," she said from the doorway after Elfman called her out on the absence of a horrible game. "Buuu~t, if you want to play, I'm sure I could come up with something or other." She gave the dining hall a fiendish grin.

A chill ran down the spines of everyone present, and Cana spoke up, "No thanks – you just focus on the party, Mira."

Mira winked at everyone and followed after Levy with a departing wave of her hand.

Elfman eyed the doorway. His sister had been acting stranger than normal lately. It might have been because of the snow storm and being cooped up all day, or it could be because she didn't have the usual droves of friends and classmates around to keep herself amused, but there was definitely something weird about her. She was much too fidgety.

_But there was someone else acting strangely too,_ Elfman thought to himself.

Evergreen.

He looked over at the brunette in question. She was usually very vocal and insulting about everything, but she'd barely spoken all day, except to complain and curse a little during that morning's indoor battle. Her eyes were usually a very lively hazel, but the whole day they'd seemed dazed, as if she had been lost in thought, or were trying to figure something out. Even when Laxus was around her, she wasn't as animated in trying to attach herself to him.

Elfman wondered if they'd had a fight – surely the only thing that could make her look so serious and unlike herself had something to do with Laxus. He was the only thing that she paid any real attention to.

Elfman turned to Bixlow, who was finishing up his third helping of pancakes, and decided that if anyone knew, Bixlow would be one to ask. "What's up with Evergreen?"

Bixlow turned to the tall Strauss brother and grinned with food still in his mouth, "What? You askin' me to set you up with her?"

The boy with the same silvery blonde hair as his two sisters laughed and shook his head, "No, I mean, she's been acting weird today, hasn't she?"

"Hmm," Bixlow said as she glanced down the table at his friend, "Yeah, I guess so – she hasn't been so bitchy today…"

"Did something happen?"

"Don't know…oh, wait! Yeah, I did overhear Ever and Laxus talkin' yesterday." Bixlow took another bite of pancake.

Elfman raised an eyebrow, "About what? Were they arguing?"

Bixlow shrugged, "I really don't know…It didn't sound like a fight, though. I heard them talking – mostly Laxus – from outside his room. When I opened the door, she was makin' a really serious face, like she didn't understand what he was saying. They stopped talking once I came in, too."

"Huh," Elfman commented, "That's kinda weird."

Bixlow nodded and took the last bite of his food, "Yeah – she's never made such a serious face like that around him…at least not that I or Fried have ever seen."

"I wonder what they were talking about…" Elfman wondered aloud.

Bixlow leaned back in his seat and glanced again over at Ever, "I'm kinda curious too…because whatever it was, Laxus was talking about it with a really weird smile."

* * *

><p>The storm raged on viciously. The wind howled loud enough for it to be heard echoing through the boys' and girls' dormitories, as well as the student lobby. Snow was piling up outside, covering everything in a cold layer of white.<p>

Gajeel and Lily played pool in the lobby, the storm a thrashing soundtrack playing constantly in the background. The heavily pierced boy was trying his hardest to be a good sport about the game, but pool had never been his area of expertise – he didn't have the patience or the required gracefulness that was necessary to be a pro at the game.

Lily on the other hand, had both those traits and was currently kicking Gajeel's ass.

"You really shouldn't pout, Gajeel – it's unbecoming."

Gajeel about growled at his friend, "I'm not pouting, asshole, now hurry up and hit the damn ball."

Lily smirked and gave the cue-stick a light jab.

He hit the white cue-ball with just enough force for it to knock into the black eight-ball, which in turn fell into the basket. The cue-ball tottered on the edge of the corner basket as well, but came to a solid stop right on the edge. Lily looked up to his intimidating friend with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Show off – I'm glad I've learned not to put any money into these games, you damn hustler." Gajeel set his stick on the red felt table top and plopped down onto the nearest couch.

Lily laughed, "Speaking of hustling, I don't think I've had the pleasure of playing Elfman yet. I'm sure he's got lots of Christmas money he'd just love to give to me." He let his cue-stick rest behind his neck, across his shoulders. "I'll think I'll look for the Strauss brother and ask him to play a game."

Gajeel shook his head and laughed, "I'm not gonna watch Elfman throw away all his cash, so I think I'll just go hang in the room."

Lily gave his friend a nod and headed towards the dining hall where he was pretty sure Elfman was still hanging out with Alzack and Cana. Gajeel headed towards the boys' wing of the building and soon disappeared into the quiet and empty halls of the guys' dormitory. His room was 16E down the left branch, but as he went to turn the knob of his door he heard heavy footsteps coming towards him and saw an undeniably familiar outline stop just a few doors away.

The figure just stood there, and Gajeel immediately started radiating hatred. The studded boy turned a little to face the newcomer, and saw none other than Laxus leaning against the wall between the doors to 14E and13E with his arms crossed over his chest. His usual laughing and friendly visage was gone, and for the second time Gajeel saw the blonde without any false pretense between them.

"She told you," Laxus said flatly, without even a hint of doubt.

Gajeel knew immediately what the blonde was talking about. His eyes widened for a second in surprise, but then reverted back to their narrow scowl. He was surprised to find that Laxus had figured it out, but then, it was probably his own fault for not being able to hide his hatred very well. _So the bastard knows…_Gajeel's scowl deepened as he wondered what else he might have figured out. _Hopefully it's just me he thinks Levy told – if he figures out that Mira knows too, our plans might get a little more complicated. _

Laxus' blue eyes were shielded and shadowed by his creased brow as he stared intently at Gajeel. Laxus spoke with a voice that was uncharacteristically cold, "I don't like it when people take my things. Especially when it's some shitty punk like you."

"Fuck off," Gajeel growled, gripping onto his doorknob so tightly that he feared it would pop off. Levy and Mira had been annoyingly persistent about him not fighting with the bastard, but he wasn't sure how long he could hold out against his natural instinct to pummel the guy into the ground.

Laxus' dark look didn't change, but he pushed himself off the wall and started taking small steps towards the heavily pierced boy. "I don't know why she told you of all the goddamned people in this shit-hole, but I guess I've never been able to figure her out." Laxus gave a heavy sigh and continued, "What the hell do you think you can do, anyways, you metal-faced freak? Do you think you can help her – or is it that you want her too? If that's the case, you'll have to wait," a dark smile touched the corners of Laxus' lips, "You can have her after I finish up my little game with her."

"The only thing I want is to beat the living hell out of you, fucktard – just shut the fuck up," Gajeel practically snarled. His blood was now flowing like lava through his veins, and Gajeel was quickly losing his self-restraint. He watched with his dark, narrowed eyes as Laxus slowly came closer and closer with small and slow steps.

Laxus continued as if Gajeel hadn't spoken, "I bet you've realized it too – just how interesting she is. Not once has she done as I expected – it infuriates and intrigues me at the same time. God, but I'm finally going to finish this. She's the only challenge that's lasted this long," Laxus' strangely dark smile was growing as his eyes reflected some sort of demented fantasy going on inside his mind, "Just thinking about it gets my adrenaline pumping."

"Go fuck yourself," Gajeel's hand came off his door and he turned to fully face the blonde bastard as he took another step closer. Gajeel let his hands clench and unclench so that his knuckles would crack. He no longer had any notion of holding back – Gajeel knew that the moment that blonde bastard got within range he was going to start hitting, and only stop until either someone pulled him away or he got too tired to keep punching.

A sickening laugh escaped through Laxus' strange toothy smile, "No, I'm afraid I'm saving that for Levy. And if you really think you can do anything to help her, I hope you have a better plan that just beating me up." The blonde glanced down to Gajeel's tightened fists that were clenched so forcefully that his knuckles were paler than the rest of his darkened olive skin. Small beads of blood were starting to drip down from cuts that his fingernails had made from digging into his palm so intensely. The blonde looked back up with taunting eyes at his opponent, "Come at me, then. I can see how badly you want to. Hell, you wanted to punch me even before she told you – so hurry up and hit me. I'll stand here and let you – I want to feel how much you hate me. Let me taste that anger. And if you really go for it, you might even get me to fight back."

Gajeel's body – his entire existence, really – was just aching to start the fight. A small voice inside of him that sounded oddly like a combination of Levy and Lily's voices kept urging him to ignore the blonde and just leave, but Gajeel was purposefully ignoring it. There was no way he was backing out of this fight – he was not going to let that sick fuck win after all he just said.

"What are you waiting for, Gajeel," Laxus baited, "I can keep talking if you want. Like, about how the other day, when I'd almost gotten her; she made this amazing sound when I bit her lip. It was half-way between a sob and a groan of pain – uh, just the memory of her blood in my mouth gets me so –"

But that was all Gajeel could handle.

His fist shot out like a bullet and struck Laxus right in the jaw. He'd used so much power that he sent the sick fuck staggering towards the wall. Gajeel had finally lost control and was a blur of motion. His other hand landed an uppercut to Laxus' right cheek.

Laxus spat blood to the floor and tried to straighten up, but Gajeel didn't give him the chance. The delinquent boy aimed a swift kick at the blonde's knee and then as Laxus lost his balance and started leaning forward Gajeel sent a power jab to the toppling guy's gut.

Gajeel stepped back for a second as Laxus staggered backwards a few steps. The blonde used the wall to stabilize himself, and stood up straight, slightly babying the knee that Gajeel had just kicked. Laxus gave a short laugh and rubbed at his face where the studded boy had landed two of his punches, "That was nice – I can see you're pretty angry…oh, but I forgot to mention something," Laxus wiped away a little blood from his lip where it had split open, "For every hit you land on me, I double on Levy. So what's that – I owe her six hits and two kicks, right?"

Gajeel's teeth clenched and he let out a partially muffled growl. He quickly pushed Laxus up against the wall and pressed his forearm onto the blonde's throat. He used his other hand to keep the force steady, "You're not going to touch her again, you motherfucker."

Laxus coughed and managed to get his fingers wedged beneath Gajeel's thick arm. He struggled a bit to try to push Gajeel's arm off of his neck, but managed to choke out a laugh and a strangled sentence while doing so, "I'll add strangling to the list too." He coughed again, "For someone trying to help her, you're sure causing her a lot of extra pain."

Gajeel shook his head and pressed harder on Laxus' throat. His voice shaking in anger and fury, he just barely managed to get out in a feral whisper, "Then I'll just have to make it so you can't move anymore, won't I, you fucking prick."

Laxus started coughing again, but the taunting smile never faded from his lips, making it look as though he were actually laughing instead of trying to draw in breath through his closed up airways.

Suddenly there were running footsteps and someone was shouting.

"Gajeel! Let Laxus go, Gajeel!" a familiar voice was shouting. Large hands were pulling Gajeel away by the shoulders and attempting to toss him towards the opposite wall. Gajeel glared at Elfman but allowed the tall junior to interrupt the fight.

Another familiar figure was beside Laxus', who had slid down the wall once Gajeel's arm had been released from his throat. "You okay dude? Can you breathe?" Alzack was asking in a concerned panic.

Elfman was looking between Gajeel and the floored blonde who was now panting loudly and covering his eyes with one hand – Gajeel assumed because he didn't want the others to see him until his usual light-hearted mask was back in place. "What the hell, Gajeel?! What was that about?!" Elfman shouted, thoroughly confused about the situation he and Alzack had just happened upon.

Laxus finally managed to even out his breathing and let his hand fall away from his face. "It's alright – just a friendly fight, huh, Gajeel."

Gajeel didn't trust himself to speak. His anger was still bubbling, and he knew that the moment he spoke, his fury would be set loose again. He just kept his poisonous glare on the floor, and let his hands clench back into their tightened blood-drawing fists.

"That didn't look very friendly," Elfman said skeptically, glancing back at Gajeel.

Alzack pulled Laxus to his feet and helped the blonde regain his balance.

Laxus let out a long breath and resumed his usual smile, "Don't worry – it doesn't concern you two. Anyways, I think that's all for today, Gajeel." Laxus smirked in his usual jocular way and again wiped away some of the blood that had trickled down from his split lip, "But remember that I'm keeping track of these hits."

Gajeel's head shot up again and directed his furious glare at the blonde, "We're not finished you fucking bastard."

Laxus straightened out his shirt and started walking away, "Goodnight Gajeel." Laxus laughed his fake good natured laugh and disappeared around the corner.

Gajeel released the rest of his anger through a powerful punch to the wall behind him, completely ignoring the two confused gazes of Elfman and Alzack. As Gajeel vented onto the poor defenseless wall with a stream of fists, Elfman managed to ask, "Gajeel, what was that about? That seemed way more serious than your usual fights…"

Gajeel let his last punch strike the wall, and watched as it cracked, sending out a small puff of white plaster dust. His fist remained touching the cracked wall, and he just stared forward. He still didn't trust himself to answer Elfman's question. He was sure that if he did, things he shouldn't say would come spilling out.

The heavily pierced boy just shook his head and quickly spun around to find the door to his room. He found the cold metal handle and pushed on it. He stood in the doorway for a moment and before disappearing into his room for the night managed to say through clenched teeth, "Tell Lily I need time to cool off."

With that, Gajeel slammed his door shut, leaving a dumbfounded Elfman and Alzack alone in the hallway.

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><p>Somehow, the storm had only gotten worse. The wind was howling like some creature in pain, and the late night seemed to be filled to the brim with tension. News of Gajeel almost strangling Laxus in the boys' dorms had reached all of those who hadn't yet gone to bed – which was a majority of the Holiday-Stayers excluding just a handful like Levy and Mirajane who had gone to bed early. Everyone had tried to speculate on what was going on, but Alzack and Elfman, who had actually witnessed the crime, could only say that it seemed like something serious.<p>

Gajeel had a record for getting into fights – but they were mostly with people unrelated to the school. He would occasionally tussle with some of his classmates, namely fellow seniors Natsu and Gray, but those were more for fun than for any specific cause. Everyone knew that Gajeel had a short temper, but Elfman said that the intensity between the delinquent and the popular jock had been caused by something more serious than the usual shallow argument.

As Laxus was nowhere to be seen after news of the incident spread, Bixlow, Fried, and Evergreen had all gone to Laxus' dorm room to look for him. As the night progressed, the last of the Holiday-Stayers started heading to bed. By two in the morning, everything was dark and quiet and everyone was sleeping – except that it wouldn't be for long.

A sudden roar of thunder outside woke Mirajane with a start. She'd sat straight up in bed, her heart racing impossibly fast. She'd been in the midst of having a dream, and after being startled awake by the storm, Mira was slightly disoriented. It took her a few minutes of staring into the dark room to realize that it wasn't her bed she was sitting in, but Lucy's, not her bedcovers but someone else's. Mira nodded to herself in the dark as she remembered where she was…but something felt off. If this was Levy's and Lucy's dorm instead of her own, then why was it so quiet?

Mira strained her eyes towards the direction of Levy's bed, but her eyes weren't quite adjusted to the dark yet. She listened carefully for the quiet signs of Levy's sleep-breathing, but still heard nothing but the crying wind and the occasional mumble of thunder. She knew that Levy was a silent sleeper, but it sounded as though she wasn't there at all.

Her stomach suddenly started to feel uneasy and she quickly scrambled out of her borrowed bed. She stumbled across the dark room and slowly reached out towards Levy's bed, where she would hopefully come into contact with her friend's warm, sleeping body.

But as Mirajane's hand came down on a cold and empty mattress, a sudden flash of lightning lit up the room for a split second.

That single second was long enough for Mira to realize that she was alone.

Levy was gone and her bed was cold.

Mira hurried frantically over to the wall with the light switch, but even after being blinded by the sudden light, she found no trace of her friend. She checked the bathroom, hoping wildly that she had just gotten up to use the restroom, but found nothing but an empty coldness.

Mirajane looked around the room, hoping for some sort of sign as to where her friend had gone, but her mind was racing to frantically to pick up any clues. Her immediate thought was that Laxus had somehow taken her in the middle of the night. It was a baseless theory, but it was the one she feared most. Mira ran her fingers through her lose hair and forced herself to be reasonable – that scenario was impossible. The reason she had spent the night with Levy was to prevent that exact situation from happening. Mira was a light sleeper, so it was impossible for anyone to enter the room and sneak Levy away without her waking up.

Mira looked around the room again. Her heart and mind were racing, but she forced herself to calm down and focus. Once her breathing slowed a bit, Mira realized that Levy's shoes were gone. She ran her hands through her hair again and sighed in relief.

If her shoes were gone, that meant that Levy hadn't rushed off somewhere because of an emergency. Mirajane slipped on a pair of slippers as well as a sweater and headed towards the door.

_Levy must have gone off somewhere to think_, Mira reasoned. She stepped out into the hallway and hurried in the direction of the Lobby. She knew that Levy was probably okay wherever she was, but with the current situation, Mira didn't want to leave anything to chance. There was no telling if Laxus was awake or not, so her only option was to quickly find Levy before anyone else knew that she alone and missing from her bed.

Mira bit at her lip and thought to herself, _I better get some help if I want to find her quickly._

As she opened the door to the student lobby, the light from the hallway flooded into the pitch-darkness of the wide open room. The lobby was completely dark except for what minimal light came through the glass doors that separated inside from outside. Mira could hardly see anything, so she propped open the door to the girls' dormitory with one of her slippers to let the hallway light brighten up the room just a little bit.

The hallway light wasn't enough to brighten the whole room, but it was just enough to let Mirajane make sure that Levy wasn't curled up on one of the sofas, or sitting by the unlit fireplace.

Once the platinum blonde was satisfied that Levy wasn't in the lobby, she grabbed her slipper from holding open the girls' dormitory door and rushed over as fast as she could to the guy's dormitory wing, where she would hopefully find some help.

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><p><strong>An: So I was really worried that i made their fight OOC (mostly on Gajeel's part because I thought he might not have held back so much lol), but I hope you liked it xD Gajeel finally got to punch Laxus ~hehe~ I've been waiting to write that since the begining lol**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, it was a little delayed again, but here's chapter 12~! And holy crap, guys - you know what i just realized? This story is pretty close to the finish! I can't believe it. Just a handful of chapters left to go...I think this will be the first story I've ever finished *knock on wood***

**And you guys are awesome! Have you seen the number of reviews for this thing? Seriously, it's almost at 100~! That's a big deal xD Thanks you guys :3**

**Alright, enough of my blathering ~**

**~Enjoy~!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

Gajeel had been in bed and was pretending to be sleep by the time Lily came in to their dorm room. Gajeel was absolutely sure that Lily knew he wasn't really asleep, but his friend knew that Gajeel wasn't one to want to talk about his fights – especially not the serious ones. So when Lily came in the room, they were both silent, and eventually Lily flipped off the lights and climbed the steps to his top bunk. Gajeel heard Lily's usual loud sleeping breaths within minutes, and was left to himself once again.

Anger still kept his focus. He was pissed and just itching to continue beating the shit out of Laxus – but he knew that if he did that, he wouldn't be able to stop this time. It was purely luck that had kept him from really strangling the blonde bastard – if Elfman and Alzack hadn't stopped him, he could have gotten into some pretty serious trouble.

His palms started to sting again as he realized he'd been making fists, reopening the small crescent cuts that he'd created with his nails in the process of trying to restrain his urge to start fighting. Gajeel tossed about on his bed. He knew he needed sleep – tomorrow was going to be a long day – but his mind was too awake. Laxus' voice kept repeating in his head:

_For someone trying to help her, you're sure causing her a lot of extra pain_.

Gajeel clenched his teeth. He hadn't been able to stop fighting, even after hearing that Laxus planned to double it onto Levy. He knew that the sick fuck was probably just messing with him – trying to get under his skin and make him snap – but it had worked. He couldn't think of anything else. Every time he tried to take his mind away, he kept imagining Laxus beating on Levy.

He smacked the side of his head with the heel of his hand, as if that would somehow knock his thoughts away from their current topic, and resituated himself so that he lay on his back with his arms crossed behind his head. He stared upward at the bottom of Lily's bunk and forced himself to concentrate on the thrashing storm outside. Maybe if he focused on the howling wind and the occasional bout of lighting and thunder, he'd be able to drift to sleep.

His eyes closed and he felt himself slowly drifting away. He hung in the void between consciousness and sleep for quite awhile, until he realized that cold hands were grabbing onto his arm in an attempt to wake him.

"Gajeel! Come on, wake up!" a familiar voice echoed to him somewhere in his void of partial sleep.

Gajeel's eyes blinked open and saw in the light that was flooding in from the hallway through his opened door that Mirajane standing at his bedside, shaking him by the arm to wake him.

"What is it now, Demon?" Gajeel groaned in his gruff voice. He was _not_ in the mood for one of her silly games.

"Just get up!" Mira said in a frantic voice that sounded foreign coming from her, "Levy's missing."

This caught his attention.

"What?!" He said a little too loudly, his mind immediately accusing Laxus. He was fully awake and alert now, practically launching himself into an upright position.

Mirajane nodded and her hands came away from Gajeel's arm as he started to push himself out of bed. "I woke up and she wasn't in bed. I don't think she's in any trouble because her shoes were missing, but I want to find her…I know he's probably sleeping and it's not very likely, but I don't want Laxus figuring out that she's off alone somewhere. We need to find her."

Gajeel nodded and quickly threw on a nearby sweatshirt and shoes. "Dammit – the hell's she thinking?!" he grumbled.

Motion from the top bunk indicated that Lily was now awake due to the noise, "What's wrong?" he asked sleepily as he propped himself up on an elbow to look down at the scene below.

Without a second thought Gajeel threw Lily a long sleeved shirt that had been lying on the back of their rolling chair, "Get up and help us."

"Levy's missing and we need to find her," Mira added quickly.

Lily was silent for a moment – his sleepy brain taking a bit longer than normal to process the situation – but he eventually pulled on the long-sleeved shirt and jumped down from the top bunk. He quickly found a pair of jeans to wear and pulled those on as well – he was the type to sleep in his boxers no matter how cold the weather was.

"Any ideas where she might be?" Lily asked as he finished pulling on his pants.

Mira ran her fingers through her loose and messy hair, "Best guess would be the library – or maybe one of the study rooms on the third floor."

Lily nodded, "We should split up." He rummaged through one of the desk drawers and pulled out a small travel sized flashlight and a clip on book-light, "I don't have anything better, so these will have to work."

"These are fine," Mira nodded, "Alright, I'll take the library and the second floor, Lily will you take the third floor of the school building?" Lily nodded in response and she continued, "Gajeel, you should search the first floor – maybe the kitchen or the dining hall. Whoever finds her, send a text to everyone else."

Both boys nodded and the three immediately left the dark dorm room to find the missing girl. Once they made it out into the Student Lobby, Mira and Lily headed for the hallway that would take them to the main building, while Gajeel went to search the dining hall and the kitchen first.

But everywhere he looked, it was empty and dark. Levy was nowhere to be seen. His cell phone in his pocket hadn't vibrated, so that meant that the others hadn't had any luck either.

He scowled and headed back towards the lobby, thinking it would be good to check the girl's room again. Maybe she'd gone back on her own.

But as he came to the lobby and thought to switch on the lights, something shiny caught his attention. There was a small, half-dried up puddle of water by one of the doors that led outside that was reflecting the warm lights of the lobby.

He practically heard his thoughts click into place as he figured out where she had gone. He quickly hurried to the door and threw it open, letting snow that had piled up against it fall inside, right on top of the previous puddle. He headed out into the thrashing snowstorm, his feet falling through the fresh powder, causing it to kick up and be flown around by the calling wind.

Gajeel didn't see any of the girl's footsteps, but he knew that this was where she'd gone.

Sure enough, she eventually came into view, sitting almost like a ghost on the cold bench where they'd shared their dislike of the holidays back before all of the drama happened. The currently stud-less boy – as he had taken the metal discrepancies off of his face before throwing himself in bed earlier in the night – felt oddly relieved to find that she was alright, and hadn't been missing due to a certain blonde bastard.

With loud footsteps he came around and stood by the bench. She was staring straight ahead, the faint yellow streetlight that just barely managed to reach this far onto the school property from the snow-layered street making her seem oddly like a statue. The girl didn't react to Gajeel's sudden presence, but continued to stare forward at nothing. She was clad in an overly large nightshirt and a pair of thin black leggings. Levy didn't seem to be shivering, but Gajeel knew that she was probably frozen to the core – especially if she'd been out here longer than a few minutes.

He let out a heavy sigh and pulled his gray sweatshirt off over his head. The constantly falling snow started to land on his uncovered arms and neck, sending a shiver down his spine, but he knew he'd be fine – he'd never been too bothered by the cold. He right-sided the hoodie out again and then without a warning to the blue-haired girl, he pulled it down over her head.

Levy seemed a little startled at first, but after Gajeel silently sat down on the bench beside her, she decided she'd accept the additional warmth and stuck her arms into the sleeves. The jacket was easily six sizes too big on her, but the soft insides and the remnant of Gajeel's body heat quickly started to thaw her out. She let the oversized hood fall off of her head and looked up at Gajeel.

Gajeel had no idea what to say, so he decided that he'd just say nothing. He wasn't good with feelings or talking, but he figured if she had something on her mind she'd say it if she needed too. He slouched down so that his head could rest on the back of the bench, and just stared up at the dark, stormy night sky.

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><p>Levy watched him as he stared upward, with no set expression on his piercing-less face. He hadn't said a word, even though she was sure that Gajeel was wondering why she'd come out here. He had just pulled his jacket on over her and sat down as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She wondered if he was cold at all, considering that without his sweatshirt, he was only dressed in a dark tank-top and flannel pajama bottoms.<p>

She looked down at herself in the boy's large jacket. It was weathered and worn, but it worked surprisingly well at trapping heat. Levy had been out in the snow for close to thirty minutes before he came, and had regretted not bringing her puffy red jacket along when she decided to take a walk. She really only left the room because she couldn't sleep, but when she passed by the glass door that led outside, she felt a sudden pull to go and sit down on the bench. Levy thought she'd only be there for a few minutes at the most, but when she sat down, she realized she didn't want to go back.

Her thoughts had kept her frozen to the bench, stuck where she was until her mind could calm down.

Fear had once again kept her from sleep, and now it was keeping her from going back to her room. She was scared to let the night end, because once it did, the new day would come, bringing with it their attempt to lure Laxus into trying to hurt her so that they could prove his bad intentions. She was afraid that once the night ended, she'd be thrown into a day of chaos and terror, where everything that could go wrong, would.

But mostly, she felt afraid of the plan. She had convinced herself that it was the only way, and told herself that she had no other choice, but that didn't stop her from being scared to try and pull it off.

She didn't want to put herself in a situation where she'd be alone with Laxus. She didn't want to purposefully put herself in harm's way. She didn't want to risk the plan going horribly wrong, and end up getting hurt by Laxus like he had been intending to do for a long time now…

But if she didn't do it, she knew that she'd be risking letting him go free.

He'd be free to terrorize her and anyone else, if he felt like it.

She glanced at the permanently scowling boy to her side again, his mere presence giving her a strange warmth in her chest. Levy wondered about that warmth, and let her eyes wander back to staring vacantly ahead. She was silent for a few minutes more, letting the wind howl enough for the both of them. But finally, that warmth in her chest urged her lips to move on their own, and her voice to start speaking without her conscious permission.

"I just don't want tomorrow to come…I wanted the night to last just a little bit longer," Levy spoke quietly to the boy at her side. She probably didn't need to actually say anything – she had an odd assurance that Gajeel already knew what she was feeling – but her mouth moved anyways, directing her voice into words that the warmth decided needed to be said. "I'm scared for tomorrow."

Gajeel gave a somewhat gentler grunt of recognition than his usual but kept staring straight ahead. He was quiet after that, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Levy wasn't sure if he was going to speak at all, when he suddenly said with his naturally gruff voice, "It's okay to be a little scared. Just trust I won't let you get hurt, and trust that the Demon's schemes will work."

The warmth in her chest seemed to spread upon hearing his words, heading all the way to her cheeks. Levy felt a little too embarrassed to look over at him – even though he wasn't even facing her – so she kept her eyes on the darkness ahead and whispered softly in understanding, "I trust you."

_That's right_, she thought to herself, _I already know that I'm not alone anymore. I know that I've now got two people who are helping me – I have to trust in them. Trust in our plan._

_Trust in myself._

The warmth in her chest was a very odd sensation, but she thought was finally able to recognize it. It had been with her since telling both Gajeel and Mirajane the secret about Laxus the previous day. It had been following her around and making itself known whenever she was with either of them.

It was the feeling of trust – something she'd been reluctant to fully do for two years.

She trusted these two people – trusted the boy at her side. Trusted with everything she had. She had bared her soul to these two people, utterly and completely, and she'd finally allowed herself a way out of her loneliness.

Her fear was okay, he'd said. It was alright to be scared. She just had to know that there was nothing she could do about it, until the plan was put into action. Levy would just have to trust in her friends, and trust in herself to make the plan work.

Finally she stood up from the bench, and pulled her hands up to her mouth to breathe some warmth back into her icy fingers, which despite being wrapped in Gajeel's oversized hoodie were still frozen to the bone. "I think I'm ready to go back in…" she said as she let her newly warmed hands warp themselves around her body.

"Good," Gajeel said, "Cause it's freaking cold out here." He quickly stood up, stretching out his arms as he got to his feet.

Levy was about to say something back when she spotted his right hand as he pushed it forward. Levy's brows creased as she noticed a bruise-like discoloration on his knuckles and a small cut on the back of his middle finger. Her hand suddenly moved on its own to grab his hand, pulling it towards her in an attempt to better inspect the bruises. "What happened to your hand?" she asked in curious concern.

His hand twitched a bit at suddenly being touched, but he didn't pull it away. He looked down at their hands with a slightly confused look and then turned his eyes towards her. "It's not something you want to hear," he said with a humorless laugh.

She gave him a little frown and repeated, "What happened?" While she had a very strong hunch at the likely cause of the bruises, she still felt the need to ask.

He sighed and let his hand fall out of hers. "Got into a fight," he said without explaining, "You'll probably hear all about it tomorrow."

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><p>With Levy found, Gajeel finally remembered to send out a text message to Lily and Mirajane explaining where he found her. He and Levy decided to wait in the lobby for the other two in the search party to hurry back down to the ground floor.<p>

Levy sat down on one of the couches and looked up at Gajeel as he perched himself on the armrest of the same couch. "So, I'm guessing Mira woke up and realized I was gone…"

Gajeel nodded, "She woke me and Lily up to help look for you."

Her face reddened a bit and she looked down at her lap, "Sorry."

"You should save that for the Demon," Gajeel said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "She looked like she was having a heart attack."

Now that Levy had come in from the snow storm and had broken away from some of her lonely thoughts, she realized that she'd been selfish for running off in the middle of the night without a word to anyone. She felt bad for making Mira and Gajeel worry – for while the delinquent boy obviously wouldn't admit it, Levy had realized she'd even caused him to worry, if only a little bit. That thought made an odd smile flit across the corners of her lips, but Levy had no idea what it meant.

Why should she be happy that he was worried about her? If anything, she should feel guilty or at _least_ apologetic about it…

She shook away these thoughts as she realized she was still wearing his baggy sweatshirt. Levy figured she should probably give it back, but she was reluctant to take it off and release the trapped warmth it had accumulated in order to keep her from freezing. She sighed inwardly and started pulling her arms out of the sleeves. She carefully pulled it off over her head, keeping track of her large pajama shirt and making sure it didn't get caught on the jacket.

Levy handed it over to Gajeel, "Thanks for letting me wear this." Her arms broke out into goosebumps, already missing the warmth of the tattered hoodie.

He grunted – which Levy took to mean "You're welcome" – and said, "What kind of stupid do you have to be to sit in a snow storm without a jacket?"

Levy gave a small laugh and rubbed at her cold arms, "Well, I hadn't really planned on going outside…my feet just took me there."

Gajeel shook his head at the girl, but smirked, "Well it was still stupid of you."

Suddenly the door that opened into the main school building was wrenched open and Mirajane came running out into the lobby, closely followed by a slower paced Lily. When the platinum-blonde girl spotted her previously missing friend she ran towards the couch and pulled Levy from her seated position into a fierce hug.

"Stupid!" Mira shouted as she squeezed the breath out of Levy's lungs, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! DO you have any idea how bad that scared me?! Her arms gripped Levy's shoulders and pushed her out at arms' length to look her straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry," Levy said apologetically. She was feeling the guilt much more intensely now. "I really hadn't planned on staying out so long…"

Mirajane's cheeks were flushed with worry and anger, but also with relief. She released Levy's shoulders and repeated, "Stupid." She suddenly rounded to address Gajeel, "And you! You're the same breed of stupid!" Mira quickly balled her hand into a fist and hit him in the arm.

"What?!" Gajeel asked loudly, even though he was pretty sure he already knew what she was going to say.

"I heard from Lily that you fought with Laxus! What the hell?!" Mira accused, giving him another punch to the arm.

Gajeel felt some of his anger come back as the blonde bastard's words resurfaced in his mind. "The fucker was asking for it," he answered in gruff anger.

"I don't care! What if he – l" but she was interrupted.

"He already knew that Levy told me – he figured it out," Gajeel informed, cutting off the platinum blonde's rant.

"What?" Levy asked with wide eyes.

"But I don't think he knows that she told Mira, though," Gajeel continued.

Mira had been shocked into stillness. He let her hand – which had been on its way to deliver another punch to Gajeel's arm – fall slowly to her sides. "Are you sure?" she asked solemnly.

Gajeel nodded, "He probably would have said it…"

"He would have said something if he knew," Levy confirmed quietly, keeping her eyes on the floor.

Mira relaxed a little and ran her hands through her messy hair, "Well, if you're sure then I think the plan should still be okay for tomorrow…but you didn't have _effing_ hit him, Gajeel." Her face was serious and regaining its angry flush.

"Yes I did," he growled back, "I wasn't just going to let him leave after what he fucking said."

Mira pursed her lips, "He was probably just trying to get under your skin. By hitting him you gave him exactly what he wanted."

He scowled at the girl, "Dammit, I know that! But if you had to sit there and listen to that, you'd have fucking hit the bastard too." Gajeel was clenching his fists again.

Suddenly he felt a small cold hand lightly touch his arm. Gajeel turned to see Levy standing right beside him. "It's alright…as long as we're careful not to let him figure out that Mirajane knows too, then the plan should still be fine."

Gajeel was still scowling at the Demon, but he felt his anger fading. It was almost as if the small hand on his arm was absorbing all his anger. Her mere touch was calming him down, and that confused him. When Gajeel got angry, nothing could calm him down, so why was she able to just by placing her small hand on his arm?

Gajeel nodded down at the girl in response to what she said. She pulled her hand away, but the boy could still feel the calming effect it had had on him.

At this moment, Lily chose to remind everyone that he was there, as they'd seemingly forgotten his presence, "I think I'll go back to bed." He scratched at his ear and turned towards the guys' dormitory.

Mirajane nodded after him, "I think we all should."

"Shrimp," Gajeel said turning to Levy, "S'it alright if I tell Lily?"

Levy nodded in agreement, "though I'm pretty sure that after hearing all that, he's got a good idea about what's going on."

Gajeel gave a short laugh, "Probably – he's pretty smart." He patted the top of the blue-haired girl's head and started after Lily, "Night."

Levy nodded as he pulled his hand away to leave, and suppressed the strange smile that tried to come to her lips, "Goodnight."

The group split in two, the boys heading for their room, and the girls heading for Levy's. Mirajane had linked her arm with Levy's, as if afraid she was going to disappear again.

"Sorry, Mira," Levy repeated.

"You're stupid," Mira said, repeating her previous angry insults, "You and Gajeel are both stupid. You shouldn't have scared me like that, and he shouldn't have punched Laxus."

Levy repeated her apology again but said, "Don't blame him too much – it goes against his nature to hold back too much."

Mira's lips thinned, "Still, he still shouldn't have done it. I really wanted to see Laxus get punched in the face, and now that Gajeel's already done it, I probably won't get to see it." Mira narrowed her eyes at the hallway ahead of them.

Levy stared incredulously at her friend, "So you're not made that he got into a fight, but because you weren't there to see it?"

The platinum blonde let out a huffy sigh, "Well I was at first, but then I thought of something."

"What?"

A fiendish smirk turned the corners of Mirajane's lips, "Well, he said that Laxus was saying weird things…most likely about you. When I thought about that I realized it was almost like Gajeel was fighting for your honor." She let out a devilish snicker.

Levy felt her cheeks heating up once again, but she forced the blush away. The bookworm sighed and shook her head, "Let's just go to bed, Mira – I think you're getting delusional."

Mira just kept up her little laugh, "Think whatever you like ~ but I'm not dropping this. I'm definitely right this time." Mira smiled happily to herself, and pushed first through the door to Levy's room.

The blue-haired girl lingered outside her door for a few seconds.

Mirajane was just being her usual matchmaking-obsessed self, right? There wasn't any way that she and Gajeel could ever…they were just friends.

Levy nodded to herself in confirmation. Yes – she and Gajeel were just friends. If Mira saw anything more than that, they it must just be her usual instinct to connect lines when they shouldn't be.

_And besides_, Levy thought sadly, looking down at her hand as it reached out for the door handle, _I'm damaged. After all that Laxus…after all that I've been through…no one would ever want someone like me, who's broken._

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><p><strong>A?N: Sorry it was a little shorter than usual ~ but i wanted to start the next part in a different chapter rather than squeezing it at the end of this one.<strong>**Anywho, hope you liked it :) I'll try to fight off my laziness in order to update soon.**

**And thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! I feel like people do something special for their 100th review mark, so if you have any suggestions for me, I'm willing to hear them out lol**


	13. Chapter 13

**I will start off by saying how terribly terribly sorry I am for making you all wait (especially since the story's got only 2 or 3 chapters left after this one). I really need to stop promising faster updates because all I do is end up breaking them lol sorry**

**But now I bring you the next chapter ~ the plan is upon us lol**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews and support - this story seriously wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you. =')**

**! ~ Enjoy ~ !**

**Chapter 13:**

Levy woke with a feeling of anxiety buried deep in her stomach. It was going to end today – one way or another, it was going to be over.

She lay in bed, listening to Mirajane's sleeping breaths as the wind lightly rattled the windows. Muted gray daylight had lit up the room via the window. Without looking at her alarm clock beside her bed, Levy guessed the time to be somewhere between nine and ten in the morning. She kept her eyes glued to the ceiling as she dissolved into her thoughts.

The number of people who knew her horrible past with Laxus had gone up again, as she had given Gajeel permission to tell Lily. Levy probably should have felt relieved that she had another ally for the oncoming day, but she realized that she felt more anxious about it. Not because of Lily now knowing, but because she knew that after today and after the plan either worked or failed, the number of people who knew would shoot up to "All".

After two years of hiding it and keeping everything bottled up, suddenly the whole school would know.

It was discomforting to say the least.

Levy let out a small breath to try to calm herself and listened as Mirajane started to stir. Levy turned to look across the room and saw Mira rubbing at her eyes as she leaned on her side. The platinum blonde noticed Levy looking over at her and she smiled, "Morning."

Levy returned the greeting with a stifled yawn and sat up in her bed. She looked to her alarm clock and noted that the red numbers claimed 9:48 to be the time. The petite girl pulled her green comforter away from her body and spun herself so that her legs hung off the edge of the bed. She stepped out of bed and quickly started rummaging around in her closet for something warm to wear.

Mirajane followed her lead and was soon picking out clothes from a pile she'd brought over the day before and closing herself in the bathroom for a shower. As Levy had taken one last night before going to bed the first time, she simply changed out of her pajamas into a plain green long-sleeved sweater and a pair of blue jeans, pausing only long enough to eye the disappearing bruise on her stomach.

The bruise given to her by none other than her new delinquent friend was now faded to a light blue color and had shrunk quite a bit. Now it looked like a slightly skewed line running diagonally across her stomach instead of an identifiable hockey-stick shape. She was glad the disruptive bruise was going away…

_Just in time for a couple more to take its place_, she thought pessimistically. If the night somehow turned bad, bruises wouldn't be the only thing she would have to worry about.

She felt the anxiety trying to spread, but Levy managed to keep it confined to the depths of her stomach with a few more calming breaths. She pulled her slightly wavy hair into a messy pony tail, put on her red-framed glasses, and grabbed the nearest book she could find.

Since her reality was trying to overwhelm her, she figured she could borrow a different one for a little while – at least until Mirajane was done with her shower and ready to head over to breakfast.

* * *

><p>"So what's this about a fight?" Cana asked Elfman between bites of oatmeal that was more milk and brown sugar than it was oat.<p>

Elfman leaned forward at the table with a serious look set in his facial features, "It happened a little after you went to bed. Al and I saw Gajeel almost strangling Laxus in the guys' dormitory. It seemed pretty serious." Elfman glanced over at Lily, who was seated a little further down the round table, watching his own oatmeal breakfast with a look that said his mind was elsewhere.

And it was. Lily's mind kept returning to last night, when he and Gajeel had returned to their room after finding the missing McGarden. While Gajeel had given him the condensed version, Lily now knew what was going on between Levy the introvert, Gajeel the delinquent, and Laxus the school idol. Things had been much more serious than he had imagined. He had always felt that Laxus personality was a little fake, but he'd always thought it to be the normal falseness that most high school students radiated in order to fit in with the crowds. Lily had never guessed how deep that fake personality of Laxus' had gone.

Cana raised an eyebrow, "How serious are we talking? Gajeel likes to fight – are you sure it wasn't just another one of his normal brawls?"

Elfman shook his head, "This definitely wasn't one of his normal fights – Gajeel looked really serious…if we hadn't interrupted it, Laxus probably would have come away with more than a few bruises." Elfman looked over at Lily again, "Hey, Lily – did he ever tell you what that fight was about?" he asked.

Lily looked up at the two juniors and shook his head, "Sorry – he didn't say anything about it…I figure if neither he or Laxus makes a big deal of it, it probably wasn't something too bad though." Luckily he was good at little lies – he figured it would be best if the rest of the present students weren't too concerned about the fight Gajeel and Laxus had had the previous night. The tense situation involving McGarden and Laxus didn't need any extra attention that would interfere with the simple plot Levy, Gajeel, and Mirajane had come up with to basically trap Laxus and get enough proof of his true nature and intentions to get the police to make an arrest.

Elfman pursed his lips at the dark-skinned boy, "Hmm – well you might be right. Laxus did pretty much shake it off…but that look Gajeel had. Damn, he looked like he was about to murder the guy."

"Huh," Cana said as she absently twirled her spoon about in her bowl of oatmeal, "Well maybe now that they've fought, they've got it out of their systems."

No one had anything to respond with, so the table quickly fell into silence, each person letting their focus fall back to their breakfast. But the strange silence was short-lived as the door to the dining hall swung open and a small trio of freshmen followed by Levy and Mirajane came in. The freshmen were talking amongst themselves, oblivious to the silence they'd just entered into, while Mira and Levy seemed to be in a silent funk of their own.

Upon seeing the platinum blonde and the blue-haired girl, Cana spoke up, "Apparently we missed all the fun last night."

Mira looked over at the girl as she slumped over her oatmeal. She raised a curious eyebrow, even though Lily was sure she knew what the upcoming conversation was going to be about, "What? What happened? Someone find my hidden mistletoe?" She said the last bit with a suggestive smile.

Elfman looked up in alarm, "What? You've still got that crap out somewhere?!"

Mirajane winked at her brother, "I'll never tell." Mira quickly came over to Cana's side and asked, "So what did I miss?"

"Gajeel got into a bad fight with Laxus," Cana revealed.

Lily had to hold back a small smile upon hearing Mira's reaction. She responded in her signature nature – loud and ever-curious. He probably only noticed the slight edge in her voice because he knew to listen for it. Honestly, if he didn't know that she'd already heard about the fight (it was actually he who had told her the night before while they'd been searching for Levy), he probably would have believed her bit of acting.

While Mira and Cana dissolved into their own little world of conspiracies surrounding Gajeel and Laxus' fight, Levy poured hot water from the kettle on the stovetop into a bowl and added a packet of instant oatmeal. She added a small amount of sugar to it before coming to the table and taking the vacant seat beside Lily, who was separated from the group by a couple of vacant chairs. She gave him a small and slightly uneasy smile. "Good morning," She greeted. When her large brown eyes met his darker ones, he could see the unspoken question in them. She was silently asking if Gajeel had told him everything, and she looked uneasy about the answer.

Lily nodded in response to the question she wouldn't actually ask and with a small smile of comfort he replied, "Morning." He looked down at his own bowl of oatmeal and continued with his breakfast.

He heard Levy exhale slowly and the clink of her spoon against her bowl.

She seemed stiff and nervous, but considering what she'd been through he was surprised her behavior wasn't more extreme than that. Lily had always believed her strange behaviors to be the personality quirks of an introvert – finding out that they were her reactions to something as severe as sexual harassment was borderline shocking. Levy had a stronger mentality than he'd previously thought in order to hide something like that for so long. He was surprised really that she'd been able to cover it up so well, despite all her fear and caged emotions.

But what Lily kept coming back to was the fact that Gajeel had noticed it. It may have been a little odd that Gajeel's recent behavior was the strangest thing about the whole ordeal, but it was – at least, it was to Lily who knew Gajeel the best out of everyone at the school. Under normal circumstances, Gajeel didn't like people. From what Lily could glean, he'd had too many bad past experiences with others to put much stock in them anymore. Gajeel usually chose to ignore everyone unless it was absolutely necessary to pay them attention, and almost never looked hard enough at someone to notice anything about them. So it was truly surprising to see that Gajeel had paid enough attention to Levy to see that something bad was going on with her. Obviously Lily was glad that he did, but that didn't make it any less unusual.

When he asked Gajeel last night what happened to make him put notice to her existence, Gajeel only muttered something about drinking buddies and then hitting her with a hockey stick. As that wasn't a very helpful answer, Lily was left with nothing useful in figuring out why the two had suddenly become friends, or as Mira had been keen on hinting, something more.

Mirajane had finally stopped chatting with Cana about Gajeel's fight, and sat herself down with her own bowl of breakfast on the other side of Lily so that she was between him and her brother. Finally pulling out of his thoughts, Lily noticed that the round table had filled up quite a bit since he'd mentally disappeared. The sophomore girl trio had come in and settled down on the other side of Cana; the table directly opposite him was flocked with freshmen; and Evergreen and Fried had gotten their breakfast and sat down on the other side of Levy with one empty chair separating the two girls. Lots of muddled chatter had once again filled the room, but neither he nor Levy were taking part in it.

Levy didn't seem too bothered by Evergreen's seat decision, but Lily noticed that the brunette kept glancing sideways at the McGarden. He wasn't quite sure why, but he had his suspicions. Gajeel hadn't said anything about her, but Lily was sure that Evergreen knew something pertaining to the ordeal between Levy and Laxus. It might not have been the whole story – especially since it would have been Laxus who had let her in on it, and he probably wasn't too keen on telling anyone about his obsession with the blue-haired girl – but he had a strong hunch that she had some type of clue as to what was going on.

And that made her a variable in the plan, whether she knew it or not. They would have to be careful, because it would be easy to see Laxus somehow using Evergreen in order to get what he wanted…

* * *

><p>Breakfast had been an odd affair, and Levy was happy to finish her oatmeal and leave. Mirajane left with her and Lily gave them both an acknowledging nod as they got up from the table. A few seconds after they'd left the dining hall, Mirajane's phone vibrated loudly from her jacket pocket. The platinum blonde pulled it out to reveal a text from Lily, which Levy was able to read from Mira's side:<p>

_Gajeel's keeping a low profile in his room_.

Mira stared at the screen in thought for a moment before quickly texting back:

_Kk. Meet up there in 10 min_

Mira shoved her phone back into her back pocket and sent a quick look around the student lobby. It was empty except for two of the freshmen girls, who were sitting near the empty fireplace with their backs to Levy and Mira. Mirajane pulled Levy by the arm and into the boys' dormitory.

They moved stealthily through the hallways until they reached Lily and Gajeel's room.

Without even knocking she burst through the door and called, "We're coming in, Gajeel". Mira pushed Levy into the room before she'd even finished her small sentence, and let the door close behind them.

Levy tried to protest, but she was immediately caught off-guard. Levy's cheeks reddened and she diverted her gaze to the wall as she realized Gajeel was in the middle of changing, standing in nothing but a pair of boxers with a towel thrown about his shoulders as his damp hair hung messily around his face. From the looks of it, he'd just gotten out of the shower when Mira had thrown open the door.

"Dammit – how many times are you gonna just burst into my fuckin' room?!" He shouted at Mirajane.

She shrugged nonchalantly and plopped herself down on his bed, "Oh calm down, Gajeel. You're not _completely_ naked at least."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Tch – would it kill you to just knock or somethin'? I don't go kicking down your doors do I?"

"That would make you a pervert," Mirajane countered easily, with a small shake of her head, as though she was disappointed in him.

Gajeel let out a frustrated sound and grumbled about it being too early for this, when he realized that he was still in nothing but boxers and Levy was still staring avidly at the wall with a red face. He rolled his eyes again, this time with a small smirk, and continued with his dressing process. He pulled the towel from his shoulders and let it land on the floor, and pulled on a nearby gray T-shirt. The studded boy looked around for his pants when he realized Mirajane was holding them up, giving them a serious look.

"Hmm," She hummed aloud, "You know, I bet you'd look hot in skinny jeans."

The boy scoffed, "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing those chick things – hand me my pants."

She tossed them to him and he quickly pulled the baggy black jeans on.

Gajeel smirked again, "You can stop staring at the wall now, Shrimp."

"Honestly, Levy, what am I going to do with you? When there's a half-naked boy in the room, you're _supposed_ to look." Mira shook her head in a disapproving manner.

Levy's face had somehow managed to get redder. She muttered something inaudible to the others and sat down beside Mira.

Gajeel laughed silently and leaned against his desk, "So, we waiting on Lily?"

Levy nodded, keeping to her silence, and Mirajane added, "Told him to meet here in ten minutes. Just want to be clear on the plan before we split up for the day."

The studded boy nodded. He thumbed the piercing beneath his lower lip and stared vaguely at the two girls making themselves at home on his bed. They both looked tired and nervous, but Mirajane was doing a better job at masking it – mostly thanks to the make-up she usually wears. The bookworm on the other hand seemed to have gotten impossibly smaller – her presence at least. She looked to be struggling hard to take up the least amount of space and attention as possible. Levy was obviously worried and scared, but he would rather her show what she was feeling than try to hide it away – at least, while she was with him and the Demon.

He pushed himself off his desk and stood directly in front of her. He gave her foot a short kick with his own. "Oi," he called down to her.

She looked up, meeting his eye for the first time since she'd come into his room.

"Don't be so quiet – just say what it is you're thinking about."

Levy kept her stare fixed on him and then sighed, "I'm just worried…what if he gets suspicious?"

"He won't," Mira piped in, "Because we're all gonna be _careful_ and stick to the plan." She sent a pointed glance at Gajeel with the word "careful", which he scowled at but didn't protest to. She continued, "The plan is simple but sturdy – even if something unexpected happens we'll be ready for it."

Gajeel gave a short nod, "And I'll be ready to kick down the door the moment anything happens."

Levy gave them both a wan smile and nodded, "Thanks."

The door opened quietly, and Lilly slipped in.

"Alright then – one last review of the plan and then we'll split up." Mira stood from Gajeel's bed and started pacing around the room.

Everyone agreed, and they were soon going over the details for the last time. Everything was worked out, and all the preparations had been made yesterday. All that was left now was the actual execution of the plan, and the end result.

For Levy, the day seemed to drag on forever. She spent her time out in the student lobby with Cana, Alzack and Elfman. Evergreen had surprisingly joined the group around midday under the pretext of everyone else being lazy – which the Strauss brother didn't seem to mind too much, since it was he that Evergreen sat next to and kept up a conversation with.

Laxus made an appearance at lunch, and after shrugging off his bruises which had come in as patches of painful-looking purple on his chin and on the right side of his face, he hung out in the dining hall with his posse. Gajeel also left his room at lunch: he stomped from his dorm to the kitchen and back again without so much as a word to anyone, despite many people's attempts to bring up last night's fight. Mirajane bounced around the lobby all day, ordering the freshmen around, as she'd convinced them to do her bidding and help her get the place ready for the New Year's party, which she assured them they would get to attend if they put their backs into the preparations. And lastly, Lily spent most of the day playing pool and trying to hustle people out of their not-so-hard-earned money.

The storm still had not passed. In fact, it seemed to have gotten fiercer. Snow was at least three feet deep, and could be seen creeping higher and higher up the glass doors of the lobby that led outside. A harsh wind screamed through the tiniest cracks of closed windows and under doors, and was the constant cause of creaks and groans coming from the older building. The sky was thick with dark gray clouds, keeping the daylight at a steady "dusk" feel since early in the morning, causing time to creep by extra slowly for the few who were waiting in apprehension.

Finally when three o'clock came around, Levy left the lobby under the guise of a bathroom break when in actuality she snuck her way into the main school building. She quietly crept through the vacant and cold hallways and up the stairs to the second story. The complete emptiness and silence of the usually people filled hallways made her feel extra jumpy. Every creak, squeak, or groan made by the weathered building made her flinch. Her imagination jumped to the rash conclusion that every noise was Laxus, somehow lying in wait for her to pass by.

This was ridiculous, she knew. It was impossible that he would know where she'd be ahead of time, but she was too nervous to think anything else.

She finally came to her destination, and the stage that would hold either the plan's success, or the plan's failure. The library was dark, and felt extra drafty. The scent of books and old paper which usually calmed her down and relaxed her was now overridden by the cold and a damp smell.

This was the place where it all started – her first meeting with Laxus had been in the back corner by the window…a place she'd not gone back to since that Halloween night two years ago. Levy had still come to the library (how else would she get her hands on so many good books?), but she hadn't curled up in the cushy chair by the window, nor had she stayed much longer than it took to pick out a book and take it to the lobby or her dorm. The library had been the reason she ever spoke with the blonde in the first place, and she thought it fitting for it to be the place where everything would end – either for better or for worse.

This would be the end.

Levy swallowed a lump that had risen in her throat and sat down behind the librarian's desk. She stared vacantly forward, her body eerily motionless. If everything on Mirajane's end went smoothly, she wouldn't be kept waiting for too long.

* * *

><p>Almost everyone had gathered in the dining hall in an attempt to keep out of Mirajane's way while she was setting up for the New Year's party, which was the day after tomorrow. Soon the winter break would end and students would start to come back in droves, but they usually had until after New Years' before it started getting crowded again.<p>

Elfman was talking about football with Al when his sister suddenly burst through the door with a pouty look on her face after she scanned all the faces in the room. "Anyone seen Gajeel?" Mirajane asked loud enough to get everyone's attention.

Most people looked over to Lily, the delinquent's roommate, who sighed and turned to Mira. "He's still in our room. Been sleeping most of the day," Lily answered.

"Probably trying to sleep off the anger," the Strauss brother said to Alzack.

Suddenly his sister's eyes zeroed in on him and she practically skipped across the table. "I needed him to do some heavy lifting – I don't trust the freshmen to move the crappy old speakers," as Mira came closer, Elfman forced his eyes to look anywhere but at his older sister. He knew her enough to recognize the look on her face.

Her skinny arms suddenly tightened themselves around Elfman's neck. "My dearest younger brother wouldn't mind helping me, right?"

Alzack gave him a look of pity.

They both knew that once Mira got you to help with something, you were enslaved until everything else was done. With her, a small task would always multiply into basically doing anything she wanted you to do until she was satisfied or finished.

"Uh, I'm…Al and I were just…" Elfman tried to come up with an excuse.

Mira narrowed her eyes and pouted her lips to one side. "Fine then – don't help your wonderful sister when she needs you." She acted like he'd just slapped her across the face…and then the pout dissolved into a terrible smile. A smile that sent a chill down Elfman's spine.

Alzack looked away at this point, even going so far as to quietly scoot his chair farther away from Elfman in an attempt to distance himself from whatever it was that Mira was about to get him to do.

"If you won't help me with the party prep, I have something else I'd like you to do," Mira said, her fiendish smile playing with the corners of her mouth. He also recognized this look of his sister's as well, and it never meant anything good.

"What?" he asked nervously, "What are you planning this time?"

She leaned closer to him and spoke quietly so that only he could hear her, "In twenty minutes I need you to leave for a little while, and then come back and tell Laxus to go find Levy and tell her that Makarov doesn't need her help for dinner tonight. Tell him to do that, mention that Levy went to the main building, and then leave."

"What type of scheme is…" but Elfman was cut off.

Mira sent him a very serious face. One that he hadn't seen in quite a long time, and frankly, it scared him. That look was way out of place amidst one of her crazy matchmaking schemes…

"Please, Elfman. Just do what I said," her serious face deepened, "And don't you dare tip him off that this has anything to do with me, got it?"

Elfman nodded, "Yeah, fine. I'll do it."

Her serious face immediately disappeared and she stood up with the usual analytical look in her eyes. She scanned the room and gave a showy huff, "Fine – I guess I don't _really_ need those speakers moved yet. I'll get someone to do them tomorrow." With that she smiled and bounced out of the room – only stopping for a millisecond at the doorway to shoot Elfman a pointed look.

Once his sister disappeared, Elfman sighed and shook his head. Alzack scooted his chair back into place. "What was that about?"

Elfman's eyes flickered to Laxus for a moment, who was letting Evergreen closely observe his bruises from her place in his lap, and then back to his friend, "Just something stupid. I'll tell you about it later."

Alzack took his word for it, and they quickly picked up their previous conversation about sports. Elfman kept going over his sister's instructions while talking and kept a close eye on the clock. Twenty minutes passed a little too quickly, as time always did when you were hoping a specific time wouldn't come.

Since Elfman was supposed to "run into Makarov", Elfman stood up and took the door out of the dining hall that led into the main school building, giving Alzack a silent explanation that this had something to do with Mirajane's plot. His friend nodded and pulled out his cell phone – probably to text Bisca.

Elfman wandered aimlessly for a good ten minutes before coming back into the dining hall to do as Mira had instructed – except Laxus wasn't there.

No one was in fact – the dining hall had emptied out.

The Strauss brother continued through to the student lobby, and found everyone. They were looking around at the decorations Mira and her freshmen slaves had managed to put up, while Mira was talking loudly about some idea she had for the party. Elfman ignored his sister and found Laxus' tall blonde head sticking up from amidst the crowd. Fried was with him, but has his back to the blonde as Mira had suddenly popped up beside him and started talking, causing the green-haired boy to tense up awkwardly (probably due to his sister's manly move the other night, Elfman thought to himself with a silent laugh remembering the kiss she'd sprung upon the guy).

So Elfman played his part, taking the liberty of changing up the dialogue his sister had given him to make it more natural. Elfman was taking drama this year, and actually had quite a knack for acting – though, all the years he's spent with his sisters, making up excuses so as not to get dragged into Mirajane's plots and plans had helped a lot with this talent.

He flagged down Laxus with a short wave and jogged up to him.

"What's up?" the blonde asked, smiling his usual smile despite his face being all bruised up with purple.

"I just ran into Makarov and he gave me a message for Levy but I was kinda in the middle of something," Elfman pointed vaguely in Alzack's direction, who still had his fingers glued to the keyboard of his cell phone. "You think you could tell her for me?"

Laxus glanced quickly in the direction Elfman had pointed and then back at the white-blonde boy. "Yeah sure – what am I supposed to tell her?"

"Just that Master doesn't need her help for dinner tonight – something about giving her a break."

Laxus nodded and smirked lightly, "Yeah, I'll go find her."

"Thanks," Elfman smiled as she turned to walk away. He made it a few steps before suddenly turning. "Oh yeah –I'm pretty sure she went to the main school building a little earlier. Probably to read and hide away from my sister," Elfman laughed before jogging off towards Alzack.

Out of the corner of his eye Elfman saw Laxus nod and turn towards the door that would lead to the school's main building, smirking all the while.

Once he reached Al, Elfman gave the black-haired boy a friendly punch to the shoulder to get his attention away from the cell phone in his hands. "Bisca?" he asked.

Alzack's cheeks reddened immediately at the girl's name and replied, "Maybe."

"Come with me to my dorm for a sec, "Elfman said as she started towards the boys' dormitory.

"Sure – what was that all about?" Al asked as he followed slightly behind his friend.

Elfman shook his head, "Mira's got some plan involving Laxus and Levy."

"But I thought Mira was all about getting McGarden and Gajeel together?…"

"Me too," Elfman answered, having recognized Mira's recent project a few days ago, "So I think this has something to do about why Laxus and Gajeel fought. I bet she's using Levy to pry for information."

Alzack nodded, "That would make sense – but you know? I was thinking earlier that Levy might have something to do with their fight."

"What?"

"Well, Mira's been trying to set up Gajeel and McGarden lately – and the other night Laxus chose Levy for that kiss question as well as Gajeel. Maybe – I don't know – maybe there was some kind of drama, though neither of them seem the type to get that angry over a girl."

"Hmm," Elfman hummed, "It's hard to see those two fighting over a girl like that –especially Levy, since she's not one for the whole dating scene – but lately a lot of people've been acting weird, so I won't say it's not that for sure…"

Alzack nodded, "It's all this stupid snow. Everyone's got Cabin-Fever."

Elfman laughed as he came to his dorm room. He twisted the knob and pushed open the door. "Yeah – that's it," he joked, "We're all slowly going crazy – nothing to worry about."

* * *

><p>In the dark of an unused classroom on the second floor of the main school building, two shadows were accompanied by two different sets of breaths. Rough and lulled breaths were coming from one silhouette that was on hand and knee, while the other, more normal breaths came from the tall broad-shouldered shape standing in the doorway.<p>

"Laxus, you fucking bastard," The downed shadow spat, his arms shaking beneath the weight of his own body.

"Did you come to watch?" the boy in the doorway asked with a sickening smile in his voice. "I'm not quite sure what you thought you could do to help her – but if you were trying to be sneaky you sure fucked that up. I heard you in here from down the hallway."

"I'll rip your goddamn throat out if you –" but his words were cut off in a grunt of pain as Laxus suddenly moved and sent a kick into Gajeel's stomach, sending the studded boy skidding across the floor. It was safe to say that Gajeel was in pain, but the worst was coming from the knock on his head that Laxus had managed to inflict while he'd been occupied by trying to figure out a certain app on Mirajane's fancy iPhone. He could feel the darkness in the classroom starting to close around him.

_Shit. If I pass out, we're all screwed. Levy'll be in serious trouble._

Gajeel's vision was starting to fade out.

Laxus stared down at him for a moment longer before taking a few steps backwards, out of the room, grabbing a spare chair from a nearby desk as he did so. "I think I'll leave you here for now, Redfox," The smiling lunatic said conversationally, "I'll let you have the next turn once I finish my game."

Gajeel heard the door click closed and the scuffing sounds of the chair being wedged beneath the outside door handle. His consciousness was fading fast thanks to that hit to the back of the head.

_Have to get the phone ready…the plan_, he struggled to think as his thoughts started to fray. His hand reached out in the direction he hoped the cell phone had slid in, and closed around the objects thin shape. He brought it quickly towards him and after only managing to press a few different buttons, everything went dark.

_I hope that was enough,_ were his last thoughts before everything went numb.

* * *

><p><strong>An: Oh no! Another cliffhanger ~ sorry 'bout that lol w****asn't much action in that one, but hopfully all the inner thought wasn't too boring.**

**Another chapter is coming - hopefully soon, but with my track record it's best if i don't make promises.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow guys ~ sorry for the delay again. Thanks a bunch for all the reviews and love you guys have given this story despite my horrible habit of disappearing for months at a time haha**

**~So without further adieu, I present to you Chapter 14~**

**!~Enjoy~!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14:<strong>

With quiet breaths she pressed her body against the wall. She'd heard the sound of a body falling to the floor and the phantomlike sounds of Laxus' voice coming from farther down the hallway. Evergreen was hiding around the corner of two crossing hallways, keeping her hand over her mouth to keep her breathing muffled. Her eyes cringed when she heard the unmistakable sound of someone being kicked – because while she wouldn't deny that she was a bully, physical violence hadn't ever been her thing.

There was suddenly a scraping sound in the hallway and the click of a door being closed. More sounds echoed down to her, but after a metallic jangle from a doorknob and a wooden thud, the only sound that remained was that of footsteps. She knew they belonged to Laxus by how oddly quiet and graceful they were. They were getting quieter as they continued. Evergreen let her hand fall slowly from her mouth, no longer feeling a need to muffle her breaths so much now that she knew Laxus was getting farther away from her. She carefully peeked around the corner to see Laxus' dark outline stopped at the end of the hallway, standing idly just outside the double doors of the library.

Evergreen watched silently as Laxus opened both doors. He stepped forward in a smooth motion and pushed the doors closed after him without so much as a glance backwards. Ever was left alone in the darkened school building with nothing for company but the echo made by the closing of the heavy library doors.

She flattened her body against the wall once again.

At the moment, her mind was on the edge of a cliff, caught between the decision to either jump off or turn and go back the way she'd come. It would be so easy for her to simply turn around and walk away from the cliff's edge she'd suddenly found herself on, but it would take a lot of willpower – more than she thought she had – to jump off into the void below. She knew what would await her if she chose to turn away from the problem, but in front of her was a mystery. There was no telling what would happen if she decided to dive into the issue and that frightened her.

But the real question was if she could live with herself if she decided to run away from the cliff and the serious decision she needed to make. If she didn't move forward and jump, what would happen if she did nothing? Could she live with herself if she made that choice?

She wasn't sure. Evergreen stared vacantly forward, her insides battling it out. Run or stay? Continue on with the way things were, or let it end?

* * *

><p>The library doors closed with a lingering thud, the softened sound of wood against wood. Levy stared at her blonde assailant, helpless against the feelings of fear and anticipation that immediately rose up inside of her. She'd previously been keeping herself calm by repeating what she needed to do:<p>

_Get him talking, make sure he's close enough to the library's phone, and wait until he says enough to be used as proof. Once that's done it's all over – Gajeel will have been listening the whole time, and will burst into the room to keep me safe._

The repeating words in her mind had a calming effect on her – but that was rendered utterly useless the moment Laxus appeared. Her heart was pounding at an alarming pace and she felt frozen to her seat behind the librarian's desk.

"Hello Levy," Laxus said easily as he leaned against the doors with his hands behind his back. "Find something good to read."

Levy swallowed loudly and set down the book she'd been pretending to read. Her voice was stuck in her throat. She was supposed to act startled that he'd found her, but she could do nothing but watch with fearful eyes as he stood at the door.

And there it was – that frightening smile finally graced his lips. The one that haunted her sleeping hours. "Actually," he spoke pointedly, "I'm pretty sure you were expecting me…"

Levy's heart stopped.

Her voice managed to unstuck itself long enough for a shocked, "What?..."

Laxus stayed stationary at the door, locking his cold blue eyes onto Levy's fear-stricken ones. "It's quite funny really. I just-so-happened to be told that you were here in the main building all alone and was told to come and find you with a message from Makarov. He doesn't need your help for dinner…meaning that not only are you here all alone, but no one is expecting to see you for a good length of time…"

Levy slowly felt all the warmth from her body being drained away.

"Seems a little weird to me, since you've managed to keep yourself in places either heavily populated or within shouting distances of others for a good two years now."

_Did he figure it out? Nononono_, Levy thought frantically_. What's happening?!_

"Did you give up?" he asked as he started moving – slowly wading into the room. "Did you think that if you made this too easy for me that I'd give up?"

Levy's body felt like ice. She knew she had to move – to get out from behind the L-shaped desk that kept her trapped against the wall – but her legs felt as if they'd become grafted to the rolling desk chair._ Get up!_ She commanded her legs, _get up right now!_

Her legs wobbled but she managed to thaw her body enough for the simple movement of standing up. She felt a little dizzy but she figured that was the fear. _Get out from behind the desk – keep him away from the phone._ Her portion of the plan wasn't too complicated, but if she was trapped behind the desk everything could be ruined. If Laxus noticed that the phone on the librarian's desk was sitting ever so slightly off the receiver everything could be over.

There would be no back-up plan except for whatever Gajeel could do to interrupt.

Levy didn't want it to come to that.

"Just leave me alone," Levy said in a shaky voice. She edged towards the opening of the edge of the desk, keeping her eyes on Laxus the entire time.

"Sorry, but I can't do that," Laxus said with a hungry smile, "I've been waiting much too long for this." He took a few long strides and met Levy right at the edge of the desk.

She hadn't moved fast enough.

His large hands came to her shoulders and shoved her back. Levy staggered and fell back hard on her butt. Laxus stood over her, looking down with cruel thoughts visible in his bright blue eyes. He gave a quick glance at the desk and let out a deep laugh that doused Levy's entire being in ice water.

"So that's what your plan was…I knew you two had some sort of scheme planned."

Laxus looked back to Levy and smiled at how wide her eyes had gotten.

"I forgot to tell you earlier – I ran into Gajeel on my way up here."

"No…" Levy whispered in a hopeless voice. Her hands shook as she scooted her body backwards and away from the towering blonde.

Laxus smiled fiendishly, "I don't know what you thought he could do to help you – but Gajeel won't be bothering us."

"Wha-What did you do?"

"A little payback," Laxus said as he continued forward. His hand shot out and pushed the phone down until he heard the soft click of it hitting the receiver. "So now we don't have to worry about anyone listening in to our alone time, right? Was that what you'd come up with to stop me?"

"Stop it," Levy whimpered. He was getting closer.

He ignored her. "Were you going to use it as blackmail – or maybe you thought you could take it to Makarov or something. You really are very interesting Levy – but that won't matter anymore…at least, not after we finish things up here." He bent to the floor and suddenly grabbed her wrists. He yanked her upright and pushed her against the wall, keeping her trapped there with his body as he leaned into her.

Laxus tilted her head upwards and immediately covered her lips with his own. His lips moved with such ferocity that Levy thought he was trying to suck her soul out of her body with his mouth. His large hand on her jaw squeezed hard enough to force her mouth open. Laxus ran his tongue along the inside of her lip.

Levy could do nothing but cringe at the taste of his breath mingling with hers. His hand slid down her neck and pulled down on the collar of her green sweater. The pale skin of her shoulder was revealed and Laxus' lips finally released their hold on her mouth and started trailing down to her newly available skin. She felt his teeth as he nipped at the tender part of her inner shoulder.

* * *

><p>Footsteps echoed through the darkened hallways of the school, but they were getting farther and farther away from the library. Evergreen was panting as she ran, her feet slapping the ground.<p>

She'd made her decision.

* * *

><p>Her hope of escape was becoming weaker and weaker by the moment. Her body was pinned against the wall with his own, and even if that wasn't a problem, her muscles felt too weak to be able to put up much of a fight. Levy glanced over the top of Laxus' head at the door. If she could just manage to get herself over the librarian's desk and through that door, she might have a chance. She could hopefully get to Gajeel and maybe…<p>

_No_, Levy stopped herself, _Laxus already hurt him because of me and made sure that he wouldn't be able to stop him…if I manage to get away from here, my only option is to keep running until I get back to the main building…and I know already that I'll never be able to make it that far._

She felt stupid now for choosing such a useless location. The library was pretty far from the dormitories and dining hall.

Levy was forced out of her thoughts when Laxus' hands were suddenly around her waist and slipping up beneath her sweater. His soft hands sent chills cascading down her entire body as they moved up her cold skin. His fingers came to the underside of her bra and at that moment her body seemed to move on its own.

She pushed her whole body forward, using a leg to push off the wall and get enough weight behind her movement to at least force Laxus to take a step back. Levy scrambled forward and hopped up onto the librarian's desk. She was trying to move fast but she felt as if her body was layered in wet cement. She crawled across the wooden surface, pushing random clutter out of the way. Her arm pushed into the bulky computer monitor and sent it tumbling off of the desk. It crashed loudly on the floor, causing Levy to let out a startled cry at the harsh sound.

She was just about to stumble off the desk and make a mad dash for the door when a cold hand clamped down around her ankle.

"No!" she yelled desperately. Levy tried to kick her leg enough to make Laxus let go, but in her attempt at loosening his hold, her whole body started thrashing about. She lost her balance and felt her body fall head first from the desk. The dark room seemed to spin around her as time slowed down.

The short few seconds that it took for Levy to fall to the floor were very clear to her. She was very aware that this was going to hurt, but there was no way to move in time to protect her head. Laxus' hand had left go of her, and she could hear him slowly walking around the desk, his feet making close to no sound at all. Levy could see his shadow growing taller on the wall behind the desk.

The small burst of hope for an escape that she'd had was gone now. Levy came to a grim understanding of what was going to happen – and all she had left to hope for was that the fall would knock her out completely and she could just be unconscious through everything.

The floor of the library was carpeted, but beneath the thin layer of ugly brown was nothing but hard concrete. Levy heard the muffled thud as the left side of her head hit the library floor – and then she felt it. Pin-pricks of light dotted her field of vision and that dark room went darker. A constant static sound filled her ears and her head was throbbing with such a fierce pain that sent her entire body rigid. There was so much pain that her throat couldn't even manage to scream – it was as if her brain had suddenly forgotten how to send the right command to her voice box.

Through the steady static she could hear a cold voice talking to her, but the words sounded foreign to her ears, like an alien language. A tall figure topped with light yellow loomed over her. She could do nothing. Levy's body wouldn't move – her brain couldn't seem to function right. Pain seemed to branch out from the point of impact through her entire head, causing even her eyes to hurt and sting as they stared towards the left of the room – stuck staring in that direction because that happened to be the way her head had lolled after the fall.

But while her body was stuck in place, this didn't mean she'd gone numb. Levy could still feel everything – the sting from cuts she'd gotten from falling onto shards of broken computer monitor, the feeling of blood rushing from one of her feet as one of them had gotten caught on the edge of the librarian's desk, the cold air on her exposed stomach where her sweater remained bunched beneath her bra from when Laxus had her against the wall.

Levy realized that the tall outline was gone from her sight, and that a new heaviness had appeared on her thighs. She could feel something trapping her legs now that both were placed firmly on the ground. Her head was forcibly turned to look towards the right side of the room, sending fresh branches of pain through her skull.

More words spoke above the static, but her mind was struggling with new bouts of pain – too preoccupied to attempt to figure out what they meant. Laxus allowed her head to face straight up now. Levy could see Laxus' blurry face leaning over her. He looked so high up – as if he would bump the ceiling if he straightened his head. Levy understood that the heaviness she'd suddenly felt was the blonde sitting on top of her, with his legs running alongside the outside of hers, keeping her down and still as if her body weren't already paralyzed.

He was blurred, but she could still make out his smile.

Levy's body was now a semi-lifeless toy in Laxus' hands. She felt his cold hands on the open skin of her stomach and the tug as he eventually pulled her green sweater over her head. He yanked her pale arms out of the fabric and let them fall back to the floor. She could hear him talking again, but the words still didn't make sense – the only thing she could make out was the sound of his smile written into the tiny vibrations of his voice.

His large hands were now fumbling with the metal button of her jeans. It only took a few seconds for him to get them unbuttoned and unzipped. Laxus hooked his fingers around the waist of her pants and tugged them about halfway down her legs.

There was a pressure on her entire body now as Laxus flattened his chest against her exposed body while still using his legs to keep hers still. She felt his hot breath on her neck, sending goosebumps rippling down all of her flesh. Stinging tears fell down the sides of her face.

_Please let this be over soon,_ she pleaded to no one inside of her mind. _This must have been the only way to get out of Laxus' sights from the very beginning. I was stupid for believing that there would be another option – that Gajeel and Mira and Lily could actually help me escape my fate. This must be my punishment - for what, I'm not sure, but I must have done something wrong. I must be so damaged beyond repair that this is the only suitable punishment for me…_

More tears streamed down her face as Levy felt Laxus sit straight up again. She could hear him messing with what could only be a belt buckle. The resigned blue-haired bookworm shut her eyes as tight as they would go and managed to turn her face away.

* * *

><p>Three sets of footsteps echoed through the darkened hallways, accompanied by three sets of harsh breaths.<p>

"Tell me what's going on!" Master panted as he brought up the rear. He wanted to slow down, but the two girls leading him forward had him in a panic. They'd both been vague as they talked over each other trying to explain what was going on, but the most he could make out was that there was some kind of trouble that involved both Levy and Laxus.

"Gajeel's unconscious in there," Evergreen said urgently as she nodded to a half-open door to their left.

Mirajane sent a quick look at Ever before coming to a stop at the door and disappearing inside. But as quickly as she disappeared, she came back into view quickly followed by an off-balance Gajeel.

He quickly looked up at the others and let his eyes stop on Evergreen, "The fuck are you doing here?" He rubbed at the back of his head where Laxus had hit him with something hard.

"Shut the hell up and go!" The brunette yelled back at him."You've been out for a good fifteen minutes." She pointed up the hallway where the library doors loomed up ahead.

Gajeel's dark eyes widened and his head whipped around to face the doors. He let out one of his most frequent swearwords and took off at a stumbling run, quickly followed by Mirajane and a very confused Makarov.

Evergreen stood still in the hallway watching them all rush forward.

She'd run as fast as she could to find the headmaster, but even after all of that there was no telling if it had been enough. It had taken her a bit more time than she'd anticipated, finding Mirajane and the headmaster and getting them to follow her. It might be too late now.

She stared with hard eyes at the double library doors and forced her legs to go the rest of the way.

* * *

><p>One second, all Levy could hear was the cold static hum of a silent library, and the next there was something close to an explosion. A loud wooden thud and a cacophony of voices all suddenly bursting through the silence. Levy's eyes were shut so tight that she had trouble finding a way to release them.<p>

The voices sounded familiar, but the words were still incomprehensible to her muddled mind. They floated around inside her pain-filled head where only a few of them were able to be deciphered.

A lot of them turned out to be swears and curses.

The weight of Laxus' body was suddenly lifted, and she felt her heart cry out in relief.

She felt a thud on the ground nearby, but that wasn't of any concern to her – instead, Levy was more concerned with the warm wave that had settled over her shaking body. A blanket or something similar had been spread out over her exposed self, and a hand quickly wound itself into hers. It was warm and small.

_Mirajane_, she thought weakly.

A gentle voice was speaking very close to her, but the static was growing louder. Levy knew that she was finally going to pass out now. Her unconsciousness came right when she no longer needed it.

She was safe now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** **Sorry for the delay - it's been a while haha but fear not! I still have a chapter (maybe two depending on how long it turns out) left to go before this story ends.**

**Hope you liked this chapter! Pretty sure it stayed within the T rating but if you think it's questionable tell me and I'll do something about it lol**


	15. Chapter 15

**Well here it is. The last chapter. You guys have no idea how accomplished I feel right now - I have tears in my eyes haha this is the first story I've ever actually finished. So thanks to everyone who's ever read, reviewed, favorited or followed this story. It makes me ridiculously happy to see how well liked this story was, despite how terrible an updater I was haha**

**So, for the last time**

**!~Enjoy~!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: <strong>

Headmaster Makarov sat silently at the table with the remaining number of his students. Two of his usual Holiday-Stayers were missing from the awkwardly silent table of faces. One had been taken away in a cop car and the other in an ambulance. Even though more students have been trickling in the past few days and a good twenty chairs had to be crammed around the table to accommodate everyone for mealtimes, Makarov felt like the room was empty. Everyone was painfully quiet and still. It was lunch time already but there was no happy banter over food – no stories being told about the returned student's vacations.

Everyone seemed to be stuck in a period of waiting.

Master was shocked – shocked and horrified – to find out what had happened and what had been in the process of happening under the roof of his establishment. How had a bright young boy like Laxus turn out to be something so inhuman? How had something so horrible happened to Levy, one of the sweetest kids he'd ever met? How had no one noticed the poor girl's perils?

Makarov had no answers – and he didn't think anyone else had them either.

Today was New Years' Eve. The past two days had been a blur of red and blue. Cops have been in and out of the school, doing interviews and taking pictures of the library, which had been roped off as a crime scene. Makarov had been to the hospital a couple times – the first had been the day of the incident, when he'd gone with Levy in the ambulance. Mirajane had wanted to come too, but Master had told her to gather up all the students in the dining hall until Mr. Gildarts could get there to take control while Makarov was gone.

Levy was unconscious the whole way to the hospital and she didn't wake up even when her parents finally got there four hours later. It was one in the morning by the time Master got back to his school, but the night wasn't over. None of the students had gone to bed – they and Gildarts, the school's sports director and soccer coach were all wide awake and waiting for him to give an update on Levy.

He visited the hospital the next day as well, and after a couple more interviews with the police and a horrible discussion with the McGardens' in which he'd been yelled at quite a bit by Mrs. McGarden, he'd been able to visit Levy.

She was awake and somehow able to give him a smile when he walked into the room.

That visit had ended with the both of them crying and the doctors shooing him out of the room because it was time for Levy to take her medicine. The doctor talked with him and her parents once Levy was asleep and explained that she was going to be released tomorrow afternoon. The doctor recommended letting her recover in a place unassociated with the incident but also said that Levy herself had told the psychiatrist that she wanted to go back to school and try to let things return to normal.

Makarov shook his head to himself. That girl was ridiculously strong.

Master looked down the table once again at the faces. His kids all looked very distraught and troubled – most of them probably asking the same questions he had asked himself – but the ones who looked the worst were Fried, Bixlow, and Evergreen.

Of everyone they were the ones shocked the most to see Laxus being carted away in handcuffs as he swore and fought with the police officers. Evergreen seemed to have been the only one with any knowledge of Laxus' true self, but that didn't mean that she wasn't shocked and scared by it. He had been there when the police interviewed her.

She said that Laxus had been very unstable, but he was very good at hiding it. He only started to show it to her this past year. She said it started out small – like saying cruel things about her to her face or purposefully hurting her with his words – until he eventually snapped at her and started bragging to her about what he was doing to Levy and how much fun it had been to torment her for the past two years.

Fried and Bixlow could only attest to noticing that he had a short fuse sometimes, but other than that they had considered Laxus a great guy…at least until now. The three of them had been friends since sophomore year when Laxus first transferred in. Fried had been his roommate and Bixlow met him through the football team. They, like everyone else could never have dreamed that something this serious could happen with Laxus as the perpetrator.

Master continued down the table and found a group of girls all gathered around Mira – every one of them with their eyes either red from crying, or shadowed from lack of sleep. Mirajane belonged to the latter group. She was sitting between Cana and Lucy – who had returned yesterday while Master had been at the hospital talking with Levy. Lucy, Gray, Erza and Natsu had all returned and immediately lost the high spirits they'd had from their fun vacation.

Now they were just waiting.

Levy was going to come back today – sometime soon. Makarov noticed a few students constantly checking the wall clock for the time, one of which was Gajeel. He'd been very sullen and quiet since Levy was taken away in the ambulance.

Master had also been present for his interview to the police and had been very proud of the usually antisocial boy. The delinquent explained from the very beginning, from how he noticed Levy's strange reaction when Laxus' name was mentioned, to sneaking into the girls' dormitory so that she could properly explain, all the way up to the plan they'd devised and the moment the four of them burst through the door to find Laxus leaning over the mostly naked Levy. He'd had a hard time keeping calm through the whole thing, and more than once had to stop talking in order to wrestle down his anger, but he barred his way through the whole story.

Makarov had a hard time remembering if he'd ever been as proud of anyone as he was of Gajeel. He'd been able to notice that something was going on, and instead of leaving it alone like Levy tried to get him to do, he stuck with her until she was able to tell him. And not only that, but he stood by her and made her problem his own.

Makarov sighed and ruffled up his messy head of gray hair. He disrupted the silence of the room with the loud scraping sound of his chair being pushed out from the table. The headmaster stood up and all eyes turned to him.

"Alright, brats, I know that we're all troubled and upset about what's happened – but Levy is coming home today. Despite the doctor's better judgment, she's decided that she wants to come back here. She even told her parents that to her, all of us here are her home and that she'd rather be here than anywhere else. I'm not going to pretend to be a psychiatrist, but if she comes and sees the state we're all in, she's probably going to feel even worse."

"What can we do?" Lucy asked with a shaky voice. She like most others has been thinking for two days straight about what to do when Levy comes back. How do you possibly console someone after they've gone through something so terrible and frightening? What can be done to make things better?

Master turned to the platinum blonde at Lucy's side, "Mira – I think it's time for you to do what you do best."

Mirajane stared at the short headmaster with a scrunched brow, but a small shadow of a smirk appeared on her lips. "You mean spy on people and lord their dark secrets over their heads so that they'll do my bidding? I don't see how that will help us."

A few people snickered and Master gave a loud snort of laughter. "I meant your skill at throwing parties, you demon. After all that's happened, coming home to the usual New Years' Party would be comforting, dontcha' think?"

"Levy's not usually one for parties, but I don't think she'll mind this one," Cana spoke up.

Slowly the quiet that lingered around the students dissipated and Mirajane was starting to split everyone up into task forces. A lot of people grumbled and complained, but secretly they were all relieved to have something to occupy their time instead of just waiting awkwardly.

Master helped out some of the freshmen with their assigned tasks and kept an eye on everyone while doing so. Things would take a while before getting back to normal – especially since this was only a small fraction of the total students that went to Magnolia Academy – but at least it was a start. There wasn't much anyone could do for Levy now that she was safe from Laxus except to be there for her when she needed someone.

* * *

><p>Levy's parents walked with her to the entrance of the student lobby. Master had offered to lend them a room here while the winter break was still in session, but they would have to get back to their work soon. Levy assured them that she would be fine without them when they looked like they were about to put her above work for once in their lives, because it was true. They'd been going through different stages of emotion – sadness, anger, depression – but having them smothering her with attention just made her feel worse.<p>

Where were the parents who preferred to send her away for nine months at a time with limited phone calls and emails to keep in contact?

Suddenly being the center of their attention felt alien to Levy. Her time in the hospital was strangely spent wishing that they'd get some urgent call from work and have to leave again. She wished that she could just let her life become something close to normal. She missed school. She missed her books. Mostly though, she missed her friends.

And now as she stood between her distant parents, she could hear them all in the lobby ahead. They were shouting and yelling and talking. Through the windows of the student lobby she could see Mirajane orchestrating the movement of all the other kids in the room. She spotted a flash of salmon-pink hair and realized that if Natsu was back, then so was Lucy. Gray and Erza too. It was still too early for Jet and Droy to be back – they usually came back on the last day of break because unlike her family, their families were close with each other and liked to spend all of the holidays together.

She missed her two best friends, but was slightly glad that they were not back – just thinking about trying to explain everything that had happened made her eyes sting.

The blue-haired girl heard her mother call her name. She shook her head to get rid of the threatening tears and started forward. She pulled open the glass door and stepped into the warm atmosphere of the student lobby.

She seemed to be noticed almost immediately. She saw multiple people drop whatever they were doing and rush for her. Voices called out to her, she heard her name everywhere. She was surrounded by arms that passed her around in a series of hugs and pats on the shoulders and head. Everything was blurry and suffocating, but she forced a smile and replied to the voices that she was alright even though she knew that she wasn't. She suddenly felt trapped amidst the people she'd been longing to see, and wondered if they'd be bothered if she made an excuse to leave.

But whatever form of escape she was planning wasn't necessary. A large warm hand had suddenly materialized atop her head of messy blue hair and her racing heart seemed to slow almost immediately. The blurry faces came into focus and she could see the concern and care for her reflected in the eyes of her surrounding friends and schoolmates. The hand that had calmed her quickly lifted from her head, but the owner of it didn't leave. Gajeel gave her a small nod when their eyes met for the first time since she saw him in his bedroom before they'd put the plan into action.

Before she could give any sort of reply, Lucy suddenly wrapped her in a bear hug and didn't let go for several minutes. Lucy did her best to hold back tears for her friend, but ultimately failed. Levy came away with wet patches on the shoulder of her T-shirt where Lucy had buried her face, and a few tear trails staining her own cheeks.

Thankfully after Lucy had trapped her in the long hug, most of the other people had gone back to their party tasks in order to give the girls some space. Levy looked around for Mirajane and found her giving directions to a freshman boy who was very high up on a ladder attempting to hang what looked mysteriously like mistletoe.

She headed towards the platinum-blonde and smiled when Mira gave her a mischievous smirk. Mirajane glanced upwards, "I plan to get as many uses out of that as possible tonight. I've got more than one of those you know."

Levy shook her head lightly, "Thanks for the warning."

Mira gave her a pat on the back, "You're welcome – now as payment for that favor, I'll need you to help me decorate."

"What do you need me to do?" Levy asked. While usually helping Mira with her party-planning was the opposite of something she wanted to do, today it didn't seem all that terrible.

"Go help Gajeel with whatever I've told him to do – he's got no decorating sense at all so he's probably failing miserably at whatever he's doing." Mira waved in Gajeel's general direction and shouted up at the freshman on the ladder, "No Wally! You've got it upside-down now!"

Levy took this as her cue to leave and headed towards Gajeel. He was currently sliding a rectangular fold-up table towards an empty space along the wall and propping it up there.

She gave him a small smile when he noticed her coming. He replied with one of his least scary smirks as she said, "Mira's sent me to help with whatever you're doing."

He nodded, "Just getting tables from the storage closet in the dining room. The Demon said we needed a couple more."

Levy smiled and followed Gajeel as he turned towards the door that would take them into the dining hall. It was a quick walk, and both of them were relatively silent. Levy didn't quite know what to say. Now that the whole terrible ordeal with Laxus was gone and over-with (except for the trail Levy would eventually have to attend, but that wouldn't happen for quite a while), what was there between her and Gajeel?

She felt completely out of place now that there was no shared secret that kept them tied to one another. What once was an exclusive bond between the two of them now seemed to include everyone. They had been allies and friends in the face of Levy's perils, but now what were they?

Suddenly the table that they'd been sliding along the carpeted dining hall floor stopped. Levy looked up and out of her thoughts to see Gajeel staring at her with narrowed, analytical eyes.

She felt her face warm up. "What?" she asked warily.

He shook his head at her and set the long rectangular table against a wall. He came towards the petite bookworm and suddenly stopped a mere foot away from her. His hand came down on top of her head again and this time stayed there a little longer. "Stop worrying about useless things," he said in his rough voice, as though he were somehow able to read her mind. "I'm here so there's nothing worth worrying about."

She couldn't meet his eyes for fear of blushing to the shade of a ripe tomato. She silently nodded her head, feeling the weight of his hand bearing down on her. "Okay," She muttered.

"Good," he grunted.

He turned to get back to the front of the fold-up table, but Levy's body seemed to act of its own accord. Her hand grabbed a fistful of his dark blue shirt and as he stopped once more she leaned her head against his back.

She felt all of her thoughts threatening to burst from her mouth, but they kept getting tangled up. They were both silent for a moment before Levy managed to get out the words that had been weighing on her since the night Gajeel first came to her rescue when Laxus had found her during the scavenger hunt.

"Thank you, Gajeel…thank you so much." Tears had once again started to sting her eyes, but she wasn't going to let them fall. She was done crying, she decided. No more tears were going to be shed because of what was already done. Levy wasn't going to let her past interfere anymore. She'd been letting fear affect her for the past two years, but no more.

She felt Gajeel stay solid beneath her small touches. Her hand was clenched tightly on the side of his shirt, shaking because she was suddenly aware of how embarrassing she was being. She quickly let go of his shirt and stepped back a bit. "Sorry," She muttered quietly.

"S'alright, bookworm," he muttered back. He looked over his shoulder and met her slightly watery gaze. His only other reaction was a small nod before turning back around.

But the nod was enough. It was his reply to her emotional outburst of thanks. Despite it being a very small gesture, Levy understood all that he'd meant to say with it.

It made all of her previous insecurities start to fade away. Because while they were no longer bound together because of a terrible secret, the closeness that they'd come to share wouldn't end so easily. The trust she'd finally been able to feel again wasn't going to become void just because things were finally alright. They would still be friends – she shouldn't have been so worried in the first place.

They moved the rest of the tables without much incident. Elfman and Alzack came to help them unfold the tables and situate them in the right spots, while Mirajane oversaw and shouted out directions at them from the middle of the floor.

Levy didn't understand how Mira did it, but by the time it was dark out, the student lobby was practically transformed. The couches had been pushed up against walls, all the tables that had been brought out as well as the few coffee tables in the lobby were covered with sparkly confetti, plates of food and snacks, and a couple large bowls of fruit punch (this time, to alcohol since Master and Coach Gildarts were partaking in the party). Balloons were scattered about on the floor and streamers of all colors were hung up around the ceiling and walls. The lights were dimmed and added to with a colorful spinning disco-ball that Mira had miraculously acquired. Fun, upbeat music was booming out of the large speakers Mira had had Gajeel and Elfman get out from the music room, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Levy had been dancing with Lucy, who had almost glued herself to the bookworm's side since the party preparations had been finished. A new song came on and a lot of people cheered for it. Levy just went with it – she wasn't much of a hip-hop person, but the song was definitely fun to dance to.

Suddenly a small hand grabbed her by the wrist and a familiar voice said to a startled Lucy, "I'm borrowing her for a minute."

Evergreen dragged Levy with her to one of the empty couches against the wall. It was a little quieter away from the crowd of students and the speakers, but not by much.

Levy was confused as Evergreen nodded towards the couch, silently telling the bookworm to sit. Levy did so and just watched as Evergreen remained standing, uncomfortably shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Suddenly the brunette gave a long sigh and stared straight into Levy's questioning brown eyes. "I'm sorry…I was one of the closest people to him and I should have been able to stop what he was doing."

Levy opened her mouth to say something but Evergreen shook her head. "Let me finish."

"I knew that something was off when I walked in on you two at the Halloween party, but I was stupid and only saw what I wanted to see. I don't expect you to forgive me – especially considering how much of a bitch I was to you afterwards – but even so, I'm sorry."

The blue-haired girl suddenly stood up. And before Evergreen could react, Levy had quickly wrapped her arms around the brunette's middle. The hug was brief since Levy was sure that Evergreen wasn't too fond of hugs. Levy pulled away pretty quickly, a small sad smile on her lips.

"You saved me that night. And through all the bullying, I never hated you. Even though it was unintentional, and even though you misread the situation, you still saved me…and you saved me this time too."

Both girls were silent. Evergreen was just staring blankly at Levy, as if unable to comprehend what she'd just said.

Finally Evergreen sighed and nodded gently at the blue-haired girl. "Thanks Levy…" the brunette suddenly let out a laugh – and this wasn't one of Evergreen's signature snarky-mean laughs. No, this was a genuine laugh, "I don't know how to deal with you…really, you're too nice, bookworm. If it were me in your shoes, I'd probably be angry at anyone and everyone."

Levy just smiled and shook her head. She was glad things with Evergreen and her were settled. Things probably wouldn't change completely – Evergreen and Levy were just naturally polar opposites, Evergreen's misunderstanding about Levy and Laxus aside – but Levy was happy that she'd been able to tell the brunette the real part she'd played. That Evergreen had been her unintentional savior almost two years ago.

The brunette let out another long sigh and then looked over her shoulder at the dance floor. "Well – Mira told me to tell you to go find her once I was finished with you. I think she's in the center of all that," Ever said with a vague gesture towards the crowd of dancing students.

Levy nodded. She and Evergreen went their separate ways – Levy to go find Mirajane, and Ever to find a suitable dance partner for the next song.

Mira's head of silvery blonde hair was easily found amidst the dancing students – but she was also surprised to see that Gajeel was there as well. He looked oddly stationary surrounded by all their moving schoolmates, his arms crossed over his chest and a heavy scowl directed at Mirajane.

Levy looked between them as she approached, her gaze settling on Mira. "What's up?"

The platinum blonde gave an agitated sigh, "Did you notice that my mistletoe is missing?" Mira pointed behind both Levy and Gajeel towards the ceiling.

They both turned to the spot where they'd earlier witnessed the fiendish mistletoe being secured and sure enough, it was gone.

The moment that Gajeel and Levy were both turned Mira leaned between them and said with a smiling voice, "Plan B is in effect."

"What?" Levy said as she spun around.

And there Mira was, holding the mistletoe above both Levy's and Gajeel's heads.

* * *

><p>"Goddamnit, you demon," Gajeel almost growled at the platinum blonde. He could see the bookworm's cheeks already starting to darken with red.<p>

"You can't disobey the mistletoe," Mirajane replied over the loud music. She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her free hand as if saying there was nothing she could do about it.

"Ugh," Gajeel groaned, "You're not going to leave this alone, are you?"

Mira shook her head, a devilish smile dancing on her lips.

He knew he could probably just walk away – who cares what Mirajane did with that damned mistletoe – but the idea of just kissing Levy and getting Mira off their backs seemed oddly appealing. He didn't understand it really, but the option of just playing along to Mira's plot didn't seem all that bad this time around.

He let out a frustrated sound and turned to look at Levy. She was staring at Mira with a "deer in the headlights" look, her eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open from shock. Gajeel gave her foot a slight nudge with his boot to get her attention. Once she turned towards him he said, "If it gets the Demon of our backs, then let's just get it over with. You okay with that?"

Her cheeks got redder and she turned to Mirajane, "If…if we do it, will you really leave us alone?"

The Demon nodded and made an X over her heart with her free hand, "Cross my heart."

Levy nodded and then turned back to Gajeel, "Uh...O-okay then."

Gajeel let out a small breath before immediately leaning in.

* * *

><p>Levy felt his large hand place itself gently on her neck, Gajeel's callused thumb running over her jaw line. She couldn't help the startled sound that escaped her lips as his came down on hers. She found that her lips gave in and moved against his own, her instincts taking over. She felt her face on fire, as well as her insides. She felt as if butterflies made of static were thrashing about in her stomach and found herself thinking that this was what a first kiss was supposed to feel like.<p>

The kiss didn't last longer than a couple seconds, but to Levy it seemed to go on forever – and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Because in that small space of time, Levy realized something.

She realized that maybe she wasn't completely broken, as she'd once thought. Maybe she wasn't going to be affected by the trauma of her past for the rest of her life. Maybe there was a way to overcome all that had happened – a way for her to move on.

She had no reason to be afraid anymore, no reason to worry. Hadn't Gajeel said something like that a just a few hours ago?

As Gajeel pulled away and Levy's eyes opened once again, she met Gajeel's gaze. She wondered what he was thinking. She wondered how he would react if he knew what she had just thought.

Because as their eyes met, a small thought crossed Levy's mind.

_It might be nice to do that again. Mirajane might be right for once._

**~The End~**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's so strange to see the end of this finally written out haha This was actually one of the first scenes I came up with when I first started planning to make this supposed One-Shot into a full-blown story. We've come a long way.**

**So Thanks again to everyone - I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.**

**On another note, be on the lookout for another Gajeel/Levy story I've been in the process of brainstorming xD It's about a summer camp for all the kids of Magnolia, with none-other than Gajeel and Levy as two of their camp counselors hehe It'll be a lot of fun and drama - and hopefully more actual romance than Holiday Stayers had. I'll post the summary below:**

Title (for now): Camp Fairy Tail

Summary: AU. Stuck between the choices of Juvenile Hall or doing community service for the summer, Gajeel was forced out to Magnolia to work at a Day Camp run by none other than Makarov Dreyar and the bookish Levy McGarden. Gajeel/Levy

**Anywho, I have to stop writing. I'm just dragging this out because I'm sad to see my two years of work finally come to an end.**

**!~Thanks and I love you all - Goodbye (for now) Everyone~!**


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